I am the person I am today because of my experiences, accomplishments, and failures. I bring these with me into every situation, believing they make me better. I find myself opinionated, as I believe one should be. My ethos can be broken down into three tenents: discipline, design, and deep work.
When I was younger, I used to think that motivation is what brought success. It was only after several failures that I recognized discipline is what brings about continued success.
In 2020, I had a Juvenile Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma ↗ which knocked me out of school for about three weeks. I came back to overdue work and nine missed exams, and initially caused me unbearable stress as I tried to catch up and recover. It was here, in this moment, that I realized discipline is the great differentiator.
I was able to come back from this event stronger than before because I no longer relied on motivation for success, but rather as a kickstart. What comes after is discipline, and it is what sees a project through.
In the following years, this mindset permeated into the rest of my life. Challenges were only difficult when I lapsed in my ability to break the problem down and attack them with discipline. I find the same today.
I believe that there is beauty in all things. The world exudes beauty in all places, including man-made software. I have found that the medium of software is my art.
There is inherent beauty is a well designed web. app. with beautiful animations and creative UI/UX. However, there is also something enthralling about a back-end solution that minimizes excess, prioritizes maintainability, and reduces wait.
The culmination of this is no different than a beautiful Manet. Software that evokes emotion, inspires people to try new things, or even just makes a user's life easier is my calling. It blends contemporary technology with fundamental human desires. What could be more exciting than that?
With the advent of short-form content, I found myself becoming increasingly distracted. I was unable to concentrate on my studies or projects for long periods, resulting in significantly worsened outcomes.
To combat this, I have tried to swing my personal pendulum in the opposite direction of the zeitgeist. I have removed as many distractions as possible, even physically locking my phone away.
The result? I can focus on what deeply matters to me for extended periods. I can retreat into my mind to think critically about complex problems. I work in a manageable and logical way, yielding predictable results.
These are the tenets that make me distinctly me. I bring this underlying personal structure into every team, every project, and every opportunity. They shape my opinions, my thoughts, and my work. Without these pillars, I would be unguided and lost.