From Gaming Enthusiast to Software Engineer. My Journey.

In this blog post, I am introducing myself and my background as a preface to the additional content I will publish here. I’m Valentín Segundo Ratti, an Argentinian 22yr old Software Engineer. I’m working in a Silicon Valley startup as a Product Engineer remotely from my country.

When you are a kid, it’s widespread for adults, be your parents or family friends, to ask you: “What do you want to do when you grow up?” This question allows children to fantasize and give their biggest aspirations, like being an astronaut, a recognized artist, an entrepreneur, or an athlete, among others. However, very few people end up doing what they dreamed of, and those who find their passion as a child are fortunate. I consider myself a part of those lucky ones.

Early days

When you are a child, it’s the only time you have a massive amount of free time to explore your intellectual curiosity that can drive passion for a lifetime. A typical child’s brain is more plastic, and the skills you gather remain forever.

I grew up with a father who worked on technology. He gifted me with my first Gaming Console by age two: the PlayStation 2. Gaming is a gateway to infinite worlds, and I was utterly amazed by this. With a joystick on your hands and your mind concentrated, you could teleport yourself to gameplay, where fantastic adventures await you to discover. You are given a set of rules, and you have to master your skills to pass levels and quests, kill monsters, beat your friends, and whatever the game is about: GRINDING.

Later, my parents gave me my first computer when the Internet at houses became more common in my country, Argentina. With one of my best friends who used to play all kinds of games, we discovered an online multiplayer game, MMORPG: RuneScape, and other online games, such as Club Penguin, which were trendy back then. The Internet had boomed in the latest years after the market recovered from the dot com bubble, and the transition from offline to online also reached this industry.

If I was already into gaming, I was utterly amazed after I found online games. But I wanted more; I wanted to UNDERSTAND it. How did the engineers create these games? How does the Internet work? After that, I knew I wouldn’t remain unanswered, although the questions I had back then were perhaps too advanced for just a kid.

First lines of code

At twelve, I learned about GTA San Andreas Multiplayer and roleplay gaming. After that, I played in diverse servers until I decided with my friend that we would create our server. It was the first time I had to deal with programming. I was a self-learner for this project, and I had to deal with coding and marketing to create features for my server and gain users. Unfortunately, I haven’t succeeded with my server. I believe it had a maximum of 15 concurrent online players, but it has been my gateway to software engineering, as I discovered I enjoyed doing that.

Education and Training

When I finished school, I started studying Software Engineering at a local university, ITBA. I first had to deal with some hard sciences: math, physics, and chemistry, but soon I was programming in C and later on Java, Javascript, and Python for different subjects. The university not only gave me the basics of programming but challenged me to create and build projects to pass the issues. It was convenient.

Some projects I was into were creating a Candy Crash-like game, designing and building a website building the front-end and backend, coding an operating system, building a new programming language, and simulating real-world systems.

Career Path

My first job was as a Software Developer at a Software Factory in 2020. It was a good moment for the industry. After the pandemic, every company was going remote, which opened many opportunities for engineers worldwide to access great jobs. Software Factories can be an excellent option for someone starting their career as a developer since you’ll be able to work in different industries and rotate on projects.

It’s not only essential to be an excellent technical engineer, but to understand the business and the industry where you work. The impact you can create in a company is directly related with how you understand the business. So it is crucial to choose the sectors that you like the most.

After four months of joining the company and coding for different projects, the company assigned me to work with a new client, an emerging startup in the fintech-gaming space. Again, I could work with world-class people in the industry, and it was an excellent accelerator for my career as I learned quickly.

Two years later, the company hired me, and I stepped toward being a direct engineer for a US company. Being a founding member of a startup is probably the best university for entrepreneurship, something I’m passionate about doing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my journey from a gaming enthusiast to a software engineer has been challenging and rewarding. I have learned so much about technology and myself, and I am grateful for every step of the way. The reward is worth it.