The (slightly) longer version
After graduating high school in 2012 as a Quantity Surveyor, I spent a few
years working in the family construction business, mostly as a mason.
Sometimes I also picked up shifts washing dishes in a nearby restaurant.
I wasn't a "techie,” though I had always loved videogames. That changed
when I began tinkering with our family PC: overclocking the CPU, adding
more RAM, upgrading parts bit by bit, all just to squeeze a few more
frames out of my games.
Eventually, after months of saving and researching, I built my first
custom gaming rig. It wasn't top of the line, but it ran AAA titles
smoothly, and more importantly, it was my first real step into tech: I had
a problem, I researched, I experimented, and I built. That same setup is
still alive today and holds up decently.
Not long after, in 2015, I decided to take things further and enrolled in
the Computer Science program at the University of Trento. The daily
two-hour bus rides weren't ideal, but the classes opened a new world.
My first programming language was C++, and I still remember
the spark when the basics finally clicked. That foundation gave me the
mental model I needed to understand how code works and set me up for what
came next.
The real turning point, though, came with Node.js and
JavaScript. Working on websites gave me immediate visual
feedback, and that sense of instant creation had me hooked. Afternoons
after class were soon filled with side projects.
One of my earliest projects was a community site for my valley in
Macedonia: bus schedules, history notes, a football tournament page for
our traditional yearly event, and even an anonymous comments section (in
hindsight, moderation wouldn't have been such a bad idea). Hosting it on a
rented server, wiring up Node.js + Pug, serving
through
Nginx, when I finally got it working, it felt like magic, and
it cemented my love for the web.
I recently brought it back to life after years of inactivity, mostly as a
showcase or museum artifact, you can
see it here
(untouched since 2018, plenty has happened since then).
While taking university classes, I also dove into self-driven learning: React, TypeScript, npm packages, and open-source tinkering.
Almost jokingly, I started applying on LinkedIn, until Condexo called.
After the interviews came an offer to relocate to Rome and work as a
frontend developer. Leaving my family behind and moving over 600 km away
to start over alone was not easy, but I am glad I took the leap. That
first "yes” turned a personal passion into a professional career. The
rest, as they say, is history.
Today I still carry the same curiosity from my first PC build, maybe even
greater. Whether it's 3D graphics, performance tuning, or crafting smooth
UX, I enjoy the loop of hitting a problem, digging deep, and emerging with
a solution (and a bag full of knowledge).
Outside of work I split my time between sports, mainly football with a
local team and casual games with friends, side projects of different
sorts, and reading. I enjoy technical books, fantasy, philosophy, and
manga, with Berserk as my current focus. I also enjoy board games
with friends (Monopoly, Risk, Cluedo…) and I'm learning Japanese language and
culture, a slow but rewarding journey.
My career timeline starts just below. It ain't much, but it's honest work.