About Me

I am a computer enthusiast who is passionate about solving problems and learning new things. I also enjoy traveling and pursuing the undiscovered.

Education

High School

When I was 15, I took a university entrance exam (SAT) and scored very well for my age. I was encouraged to apply to universities. Since I had already completed the required number of high school classes for graduation, continuing high school further seemed pointless to me. Therefore, I finished my second year of high school and started university at the age of 16, and I also received full funding, making university education free for me!

One of my proudest achievements during my high school career was my involvement with Schoolhouse.world, a free online tutoring platform founded by Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy. I served as a founding member and tutor for the platform. Drew Bent, Co-founder of Schoolhouse.world, acknowledged my significant contribution by stating that I “played a pivotal role in developing the certification system.”

The University of Missouri

I had just turned 16, and I had reached the age to legally drive in the USA. A month later, I would be driving myself to university every day. Eventually, I got tired of driving every day and moved into a shared apartment in Columbia, MO - the city where my university was located. I felt very lonely having to leave my parents at such a young age, but I had so much freedom, and I was able to do whatever I wanted. I could go to the gym whenever I wanted, eat whatever I wanted, and do whatever I wanted. I even got a cat and could have friends over whenever. It was a great experience that I got to have at such a young age.

I was living by myself, but my hometown wasn’t too far away. I would go back home every weekend to visit my parents, my girlfriend, and my friends. I even got to attend Prom, which is typically reserved for high school upperclassmen. Since I left high school early and never became an upperclassman, I thought I had missed out on this experience.

I really loved the time I spent at university. I met some amazing people and got to briefly live the “university experience” at the age of 16. It was strange when I would tell people my age. One of my friends asked me to show my driver’s license because they didn’t believe me. Eventually, my friends got used to the age gap and accepted me.

During my time at university, I met my girlfriend, Angela. She was studying in my hometown at the local high school for a year as a foreign exchange student from Spain. I met her through mutual high school friends, and we became friends and eventually partners. She would tell me stories about her country and how they live in Spain, and I got jealous but also curious - I wanted to experience other cultures and countries too. Eventually, this curiosity turned into a goal that one day I would leave my home country for a year, just like she did.

I initially pursued mechanical engineering, but I realized that my desire for lifelong continuous learning would be better satisfied by studying a constantly changing field like computer science. Although I didn’t complete my mechanical engineering degree, I did manage to finish all of my general education requirements, which proved helpful when transferring these credits to my new university. Additionally, I became proficient in AutoCAD and SOLIDWORKS during my mechanical engineering studies, even obtaining the SOLIDWORKS Associate–Mechanical Design Certificate!

Western Governors University

I believe that transferring to WGU (Western Governors University) was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It was an online university, which meant I could complete the degree whenever and wherever I wanted. Knowing this, I decided to move to Spain.

Moving to Spain was not easy, but things were starting to fall into place. My girlfriend’s mom offered to sponsor my visa, I secured an apartment, I was already fluent in Spanish, and I got into a degree program I was passionate about. Staying in Spain with my girlfriend was the cherry on top. With all these things lined up, moving to Spain was a no-brainer.

Although everything seemed to be smooth sailing, I encountered a problem. Unlike my previous university, I didn’t receive enough funding and would have to pay for my education. Thankfully, my parents offered to help, even though they had never paid for college before; my only other family member had received full funding at Stanford. My parents, who immigrated from Mexico, didn’t fully grasp how expensive a university education in the USA could be. The cost here was more than ten times what my relatives paid for my cousins’ education in Mexico, and I knew it wasn’t feasible for my parents to cover multiple years of university.

I decided that I had to finish the whole degree in one year so that my parents wouldn’t have to pay for another year. To achieve this, I spent countless hours studying at public libraries and pulling all-nighters in my apartment.

Despite the intense workload of finishing an undergraduate degree program in one year, I somehow managed to complete all the courses and obtain the certifications just in time before the academic year ended.

The nice thing about the university is that it allowed me to obtain certifications for free! Since they were free, I obtained them all.

• Amazon Web Services Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
• CompTIA Cloud+
• CompTIA Network+
• CompTIA A+
• CompTIA Security+
• Linux Essentials - Linux Professional Institute (LPI)

I eventually graduated with a B.S. in Cloud Computing (a new degree my university had just created!)

Career

This section is still under construction since, unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to work in the industry yet. It’s an ambitious goal of mine considering my age right now, but I am confident that I will be able to achieve it by 2023-24.

Travels

I will include some of my favorite photos of places that I have been to.