Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Tom Cools, an engineer from Belgium, a conference speaker, a Java Champion, and the leader of the Belgian Java User Group. "I make it my mission to spread Java all over Belgium," says Tom as he describes how he runs the BeJUG as an Open Source project that takes contributions from the community. Here in this conversation Tom also talks about how the recent evolution of Java with rapid release cycles and new innovations attracted him to the language he loves. Tom is also a certified teacher so we discussed learning strategies, stress management, social media, managing change, AI, burnout, and other life experiences developers must deal with as they navigate through their careers in software development. Tom Cools https://x.com/TCoolsIT https://x.com/BeJUG https://bsky.app/profile/tomcools.be Duke's Corner https://dukescorner.libsyn.com Jim Grisanzio https://x.com/jimgris