This was already my second time to speak for the WordPress community, yet I am still on cloud nine from my first one.

For a quick throwback, here are some of the pictures I got from the fourth meetup, which happened on September 20th, 2025.

Honestly, I never really imagined myself reaching this point. I have been silently lurking on WordPress for almost 11 years, back when coffeepotato was my main handle.

I was merely blogging about literature, adventure and life when I got invited to the third meetup held in my city. From there, I’ve been attending similar events within Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, and I eventually became a speaker— where I first talked about my history with WordPress as a writer.

Being included in the community gave me motivation to go beyond writing— I started learning the basics of coding, web design, and my speaking domain expanded from hosting and teaching to becoming a resource speaker. Of course this requires continuous education to be able to give substantial insights to contribute, hence I keep on upskilling as much as I can.

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December 19th, 2025— was my second opportunity to volunteer as a speaker. This time, on the fifth meetup, I expanded my topic into emphasizing how the academe sector get to contribute and sustain the WordPress ecosystem in the Philippine context. I got inspired on how the academe inspired me to launch my own WordPress blog back then through my former English professor, who asked us to write a blog as a school homework.

Hence, the title— “From Classroom Skills to Community Thrills: WordPress as the Bridge”

In a nutshell, this talk explores how classrooms serve as the starting point of individual growth and how WordPress extends that growth beyond school walls into tech, business, and community spaces. As educators, we already guide learning through clarity, structure, and empathy—skills that translate seamlessly into building inclusive and sustainable WordPress communities.

WordPress acts as a bridge where classroom-developed skills can evolve into career exploration, personal projects, and meaningful community participation. By simplifying jargon, mentoring beginners, and curating resources, educators help make the WordPress ecosystem more accessible while also amplifying their own impact beyond traditional classrooms.

When education, tech, and business collaborate on WordPress, growth becomes reciprocal—learners become contributors, contributors sustain the ecosystem, and communities thrive together. Ultimately, this talk invites everyone, regardless of sector, to see WordPress not just as a tool, but as a shared space where individual growth fuels collective progress.

I am still a beginner as a speaker and a WordPress enthusiast, yet my talk also served as a self-reminder for my continuous growth in this domain and I am experiencing the collective progress first-hand. I believe this is something worth-sharing across different sectors, and initiatives like meetups, WordCamps, and Campus Connects can definitely make the visions possible.

I had fun mingling with the community members— listening to their thoughts and experiences! My personal favorite was learning about how to build sites using Figma, and with the help of YouTube and ChatGPT, I have been practicing on my own since then. I also had another fun highlight— winning my first raffle and hauling cool WordPress merchandise!

As I look back on this fifth meetup, I’m filled with nothing but gratitude—for the community that welcomed me, the conversations that challenged me, and the reminder that growth doesn’t happen in isolation. I’m excited to keep learning, contributing, and showing up—whether as a listener, a learner, or a speaker—when the sixth meetup comes around. And somewhere down the road, I’m quietly manifesting my first WordCamp, where stories like mine, and many others, continue to prove that WordPress is more than a platform—it’s a community where growth is shared, sustained, and celebrated together.

Until then, I’ll keep building, sharing, and doing it all for the plot worth telling!