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 andJavaScript. 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 throughNginx, 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 cansee 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.