Ricardo Cruz;

In 2009, a second-hand computer found its way into our home. It had no internet connection, but to me it was a whole world: I spent hours exploring music, games and everything it let me discover. Until one day, it would not turn on again.

That blackout turned out to be the beginning. At nine years old, I started researching how it worked inside and tried to repair it. I did not succeed, but I was fascinated by how every part came to life once connected.

Before finishing high school, I set myself a challenge: build a Debian server with DHCP, DNS and a website. The hard part was not configuring each service on its own, but making them work together so my page could be opened from other computers on the local network. That was when I realized I no longer wanted only to understand computers: I wanted to build solutions on solid foundations.

While studying Software Development, I signed up for an intensive French course with the goal of traveling to France. The opportunity was open to every student, but only a few stayed through the full two years of preparation. I stayed all two years and completed everything, and I still was not selected for the trip. I decided not to let the language go and to look for other paths.

That path led me to Quebec, where I spent a student exchange from January to June 2022. Far from home and without knowing anyone, I learned to ask questions, to listen and to set myself new challenges. Between classes, activities and new experiences, I discovered another way of living and learned a great deal about myself. It was a challenge I loved, and I would take it on again without hesitation.

Today I work in backend development, and what I enjoy most begins when an opportunity to improve appears: following the data, reviewing the flow, debugging and understanding what is happening behind a ticket or an issue.

I am driven by discovering that something can work better. Sometimes that means building a tool, a service or a process that removes manual work and helps people find answers faster.

That is how a tool to search for and download log files from S3 with the AWS SDK came to be. It grew to include advanced searches and error charts for the team’s audits and maintenance. I also built a tool to review requests and responses during provider certification, without setting up a complete test site.

In 2024 and 2025 I had the opportunity to teach web development. It began with a demonstration class, and there I found another passion: sharing what I know so more people can build their own solutions.

We worked with Vue 3 and Nuxt 4, from understanding a requirement to delivering a solution. I enjoyed setting challenges and watching each student find their own way to solve them. I believe in learning by trying, making mistakes and trying again, and I believe we learn best together.