Are you based in Dublin? I have twenty years experience as a highly technical tester. I can help you find a meaningful path. Contact details in my profile!
Looking forward to it! Shout here if you have trouble getting in touch.
Testing can be a satisfying and fun career choice, but in order to grow you need to find a way through the thickets of self-promotion by high-profile consultants and forests of low-quality discussion. There are isolated island communities of folks trying to push the craft forward, but they're doing it without much current or historical context. You need to build your own synthesis. Frankly the field is a mess and it's no wonder testing is held in such low regard.