I immigrated to the United States in 2019 at 16 and got a job at a local grocery store, which I am deeply grateful for due to the life lessons it taught me. During my time working there, I was privileged to endure the cold, and the small hardships, which at the time I had the perception of having a “hard” life. I call it a privilege due to the life experience it gave me.

Spring 2020! With uncertainty of what career path, I should follow, I started to code as a hobby during the quarantine. I started coding following the tutorials of w3.chools.com, followed by multiple YouTube tutorials.

I immediately was interested in creating more and more projects. During my senior year, I decided to go to college to pursue something related to web development and coding. Therefore, I ended up in Bridgewater State University enrolled in a Computer Science major.

My mother has 7 children, of which I am the youngest. My first, third, and fifth served in the Cape Verdean military. During the fall of 2021, as I was walking to the cafeteria, I saw a military recruiter. It didn’t take him much to convince me to join, therefore I had seen the positivity and the maturity that the military can offer. The culture that I grew up in, often envisioned becoming a “MAN” as enduring toughness and bare responsibility for their actions.

I wanted to prove to myself that I could endure the roughness, hence on October 18th, 2021, I officially signed a 3-year contract with Uncle Sam to become an Infantryman of the Army National Guard of Massachusetts. I left for army basic training on January 3rd of the next year. Throughout my time in Fort Benning, GA, I became appreciative of having the life that I have, because as my Drill Sergeants use to say, “This shit can always get harder private.” I have learned lessons to which until this day I live. I am grateful for having the privilege of being part of the United States Military, and to be able to benefit from the many opportunities that it has provided me.

After I finished basic training, I returned to school, in which I decided to further continue my degree.

As you can see on my GitHub page, I have built multiple projects for which I intend to expand my knowledge. Each time I ambitiously take the courage to embark on a problem journey, I end up seeing the software development field differently. I see it as more complex over time, however my passion only grows as I see how things are built.

I am currently on a military deployment in the Middle East. I plan to be back at home in Spring 2025, ready to tackle new life, academic, and professional goals.