This page is all about me, this feels a bit narcissistic, but I guess it’s a good way to introduce myself to the world 🤷♂️. I will be talking mostly about my interests, past experiences, and what I am currently doing.
Who am I?
I am Alex, a web developer from Mexico 🇲🇽 in my 20’s. I have been interested in web development since I was a teenager. I took a couple of free courses on YouTube and Udemy and I learned a lot. I later got enrolled in a Computer Engineering degree and I learned about programming, networking, databases, and cybersecurity.
My native language is Spanish, but I am also fluent in English (Proficient in English, according to the EF SET). I have been learning English since I was a kid and I have been practicing it for years written and spoken. I also took an English course for about two years and a half independently when I was in highschool.
Early life
I have always been fascinated with technology, I liked computers since I was a kid. I remember the first time I used a computer with Windows XP, I used to play games on it and draw on Paint.
When I was in middleschool I realized I was quite good with computers and I used to repair them for my classmates, teachers, family, and friends, some of them even paid me for it. I was interested not only on the software side of computers, but also on the hardware side. I used to take apart old devices and put them back together.
When I was in highschool I stated learning how to build websites with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Later on I did occasional freelance work and that’s how I got my first gigs as a web developer. I have worked with a couple of businesses and I have learned a lot as a freelancer and at the same time made some money.
Interests
Today, my interests vary from web development, to Linux, to cybersecurity, to computer networking and computer programming in general. I don’t consider myself an expert in any of these fields (yet?), but I try my best to learn as much as I can and contribute to the communities I am part of.
From my teenage years to now, I have engaged in different communities and I have learned a lot from the people there. I have helped moderate a couple of them, tested new features, specially on Android communities. There are people who are far more skilled than me and I have learned a lot from them. I have also built a couple of Android ROMs myself (even though I have only adapted existing device trees so far) and I plan to continue learning and contributing to the community.
Another community I have contributed to is the Computer Networking community. I have helped moderate a couple of groups and helped people with their questions and troubleshooted their problems using Linux based emulators and made a tool to help people manage their OS images for the emulators which is widely used in the community and I have over 2000 users from all over the world.
Education
As I mentioned earlier, I am currently studying a Computer Engineering degree. I have learned a lot from it but I feel like I have learned more by myself because of my curiosity and my interest in the field.
I have taken the whole Cisco CCNA courses from the Cisco Networking Academy, the Cisco Cybersecurity Essentials course, AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials, JavaScript Essentials from the OpenEDG JavaScrip Institute, and some other external courses as reinforcement.
As I mentioned earlier, I also took a couple of courses on Udemy and YouTube, some of which I paid, some that were given to me for free by teachers 🙏.
I’m just a couple months away from graduating and I’m currently doing my professional internship at a web development company.
Programming languages and operating systems
Some of the programming languages I use include:
- JavaScript
- Python
- Java
- Go
- Bash
- PHP
- SQL
- C/C++
Operating systems I use:
- Linux
- Windows
- Android
Hobbies
In my free time I usually just go out with friends or family, watch YouTube videos, send memes to my friends, engage in Off-Topic conversations in the communities I’m part of.
I don’t have many hobbies, but I think I just really enjoy learning new things and try new stuff in my free time. I have tried reading books, but I can’t keep the habit. I like playing some videogames but I don’t play very often.
The blog you are reading right now is one of the hobbies I’m trying to get into.
One of the things I liked to do since middleschool and now I started doing again is to play pool on my phone and I think I’m quite good at it but I want to do it in real life too. I also like to tinker with hardware from time to time.
I’m trying to get into the habit of exercising because I really like parkour and I want to be able to do it at least a little bit. I used to do some flips and handstands and I can still do some of them but not as good as I’d like to.
What am I doing now?
I’m currently doing my professional internship at a web development company. I’m learning more in depth about web development using technologies like React, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, Next.js, and other technologies. I’m also learning about the software development process and how to work in a team.
I’m also working on a couple of personal projects, one of them is the tool I mentioned earlier for the Computer Networking community. I’m also working on a couple of other projects that I will be sharing soon.
The end
I think that’s all I have to say about myself for now in this mini autobiography which is probably longer than an about page should be 😆. I hope I can keep this part of my website updated as I learn new things and do new stuff. Thanks for reading this far, I hope you have a great day! 😄
PS: Shifting the Focus to a Friend
Having covered everything I could think of about myself, let’s shift the focus to one of my friends and explore his website:
- Nick, nift4.org: Nick’s initiative to start a blog inspired me to finally start working on my website and also include a blog.