About Me

My Journey

I’ve been passionate about computers ever since my 13th birthday, when all I wanted was an old hand-me-down PC from a family friend. That one gift opened the door to a whole new world beyond my neighborhood.

By high school, I had replaced traditional electives with computer programming courses at Erie County Technical School. I started with BASIC, then picked up Visual Basic, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and finally C#. My friends and I spent weekends hosting LAN parties in garages, learning to troubleshoot networking issues and configure switches and routers ourselves.

Later, I joined the U.S. Navy, where I received hands-on training in electronics theory and worked on everything from radar-jamming systems to analog and digital avionics, down to the component level. I learned to read schematics, use signal generators and oscilloscopes, and think in binary, octal, hexadecimal, and logic gates. I supported legacy systems written in COBOL and maintained modern test benches built with C++.

My time in the Navy was one of the most meaningful chapters of my life. But after several deployments, I found myself wanting a path that felt more connected to everyday life. I tried roles in sales and financial services, but I kept coming back to my first love: computers. For a while, I hesitated to make it a career because I didn’t want to lose the joy it gave me. But eventually I realized that building software can be just as fulfilling as anything I had ever done.

Programming continues to challenge and inspire me. It rewards curiosity, discipline, and persistence. There’s always something new to explore, and each project brings an opportunity to grow. That’s what keeps me coming back—it's a lifelong craft I’m proud to be part of.

Areas of Focus

As a father to an amazing little girl, I care deeply about the future—both in the world we build and the people we build it for. My work is guided by curiosity, intention, and a long-term mindset.

I'm drawn to the full spectrum of computing, from hardware-level problem solving and reverse engineering to software architecture, backend systems, and network performance. I have a strong interest in cybersecurity, developer experience, and the overlap between clean code and real-world reliability.

Outside of technical systems, I’m passionate about education, mentorship, and helping businesses grow with technology that’s thoughtful and sustainable. Whether it’s a small CLI tool or a platform used by thousands, I want the things I build to stand the test of time.

My Learning Strategy

I’m mostly self-taught, but not without guidance. I’ve taken instructor-led cybersecurity courses, studied core CS concepts independently, and earned certifications like A+, Security+, Splunk, and CEH. Along the way, I’ve learned to revisit the fundamentals often—drawing boundaries between what’s essential, what’s novel, and what’s just noise.

Go and Python are my primary tools for learning and building. I chose Go because I prefer compiled languages with strict rules that catch errors early. Its simplicity, powerful standard library, and seamless toolchain make it an ideal choice for developing reliable backend systems with confidence. The built-in testing framework and vibrant community are added bonuses.

Python, on the other hand, is undeniably relevant in today’s ecosystem. Its mature libraries and wide applicability—from scripting to machine learning—make it a perfect complement to Go, especially for exploring different layers of the software stack.

Boot.dev deserves special credit for helping a few lightbulb moments click into place for me. While I’m not entirely self-taught, I’ve had to curate many of my own learning resources and build a structured path forward. I’m also experimenting with AI tools—cautiously and intentionally—as they’ve significantly boosted my productivity, though I aim to remain grounded in first-principles understanding.

Here are a few of my favorite learning resources that have shaped how I learn and build:

• Boot.dev
• three dots labs
• Ardan Labs
• Learn Go With Tests
• Let's Go by Alex Edwards