Digesting 2023


If I could summarize this year, I would easily say it was the most challenging of my life so far. I celebrated my 27th birthday and marked 11 years in my career, but this period was filled with deep disappointments. Nevertheless, it's undeniable that these adversities provided valuable lessons, propelling my growth in various ways.

My year began with an offer to go to Portugal, something that genuinely excited me. It would be a personal and professional milestone, the opportunity to literally immigrate and work in another country. I've had previous experiences with international teams, but never actually living in a different country.

To be transparent, the initial plan was for me to start working in Brazil. After the 'probationary period,' I would then move to Portugal. However, they were asking me to go before having a project, which made me apprehensive. Not only did my wife and I depend financially on me, but I also provided assistance to my parents. This situation worried me because any unforeseen event could be disastrous. After much thought and discussions with various people, I ended up abandoning the immigration process.

At the same time, I began applying for positions that would allow me to work locally, including remote and hybrid opportunities, and even some in-person roles. This was quite frustrating, especially in a case where I went through all stages of the hiring process, reached the final interview, met the team, and then, when it came time to receive an offer, I was rejected because there was 'no competition.' It was a simply frustrating situation that persisted for a long time.

Moving into the middle of the year, I started working on-site for one of the country's largest agricultural companies, something that motivated me as it was part of the country's production chain. In a company that heavily focuses on technology, I have to say I met wonderful and brilliant people there. I genuinely looked forward to taking public transportation to the office a few times a week(since it was a hybrid arrangement).

Honestly, I've encountered situations so unethical and unprofessional in the workplace that I'm uncertain about collaborating with the same people again. One experience that remains vivid in my mind occurred during the presentation of a Proof of Concept(POC) in a meeting room. At that time, I was accompanying a junior developer. Married colleagues were practically 'celebrating' the fact that another colleague from a different region, also married, had gone to a 'brothel' with other colleagues.

What's worse is that shortly after, more colleagues entered and started, how can I put it... 'swapping collectibles'? Showing pictures of naked and semi-naked women... In the meeting room, during the time scheduled for me and the junior developer I was accompanying.

Honestly, I come from a humble neighborhood where, in a prejudiced way, society might expect such things to happen normally. However, NEVER, neither in my home nor in my circles of friends or family, have I seen ANYTHING like this in a work environment. It discouraged me, and I confess, my productivity? It ceased to exist along with my desire to go to work. Soon, I was laid off, without time to report to my superior because he was on vacation, and being relatively new, I didn't have his personal contact!

I often wonder today how it would have been if the only woman on our team had been there?! Or what their wives would think of what happened?! I just know that it wasn't the education my father and mother gave me, and that's why I condemn it so much.

Leaving that company, I was promptly called by an old acquaintance to join an international project. An app created in collaboration by a Google employee, an influencer, and an Apple employee. I became the first mobile developer to join the project. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, which not only allowed me to create an application from scratch but also to collaborate with brilliant minds and manage my first team.

I stayed in this project for a short time, but soon I returned to working as a freelancer and on personal projects, including this platform where I am writing to you! I also made a significant upgrade to my personal equipment, trading my MacBook Air M1 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for a MacBook Pro 14-inch, M2 Pro, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

It was a major performance leap, which I plan to discuss more soon. Additionally, I upgraded my smartphone, switching from an iPhone 12 Mini with 128GB to an iPhone 15 Pro with 256GB.

I don't want to boast, but these were investments I made to be able to produce more, not just content, as with both I can create the content I desire in my free time.

Although much of my year was frustrating, I managed to get through it with valuable lessons. Every mistake I made served and will always serve as an opportunity for improvement. I will continue to seek improvement every day of my life! I hope you enjoy the content that is coming. I wish everyone happy holidays and a great new year!


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