Some days, the to-do list is overwhelming. There’s always another email, another meeting, another fix. But then I think about the moments that brought me here in the first place.

I remember watching a group of first-time coders at our second hackathon. They were stuck for hours, then finally got their project working at 2 a.m. Their celebration wasn’t quiet. They jumped up, shouted, even high-fived a mentor who had been dozing off on a bean bag. That joy—the kind that comes from building something that matters—is why I keep showing up.

I think about students in cities I’ve never visited, running Pebble Education clubs in schools where CS classes barely exist. They’re teaching themselves. They’re teaching others. They’re proving you don’t need perfect conditions to do meaningful work. Just a starting point and someone who believes you can figure it out.

I keep showing up because Pebble Education isn’t just a program. It’s a reminder that students don’t have to wait for permission to lead, to learn, or to create something better. It’s the community I wish I had when I was starting out. And now, I get to help build it for someone else.

There’s still a long way to go. We’re far from perfect. But every time a student shares what they built, every time a club launches in a new state, I’m reminded: this work is worth doing.

Even on the hard days. Especially on the hard days.

— Arnav Bonigala