Hello, I’m Emanuele and Mrs Spila was my English teacher during my high school years, so I’m
really proud to write a post for her blog.
Let’s see what happens when I try to sum up my whole life in a short post... Well, let’s start from the beginning. My high school career wasn’t that brilliant, mostly because I
spent those years playing the guitar, listening to music and reading fantasy books. I was quite weir and it was really hard for me to study something I couldn't find cool, exciting or useful. So, I have
to admit, high school was really boring for me.
After leaving school I had no idea of what I was going to do in my life so I enrolled to University, Computer Science Department of La Sapienza, in Rome.
The first year was a
nightmare! I couldn’t pass any Maths exam because they were so hard for me and I had no skills for
programming. Till then I hadn’t written a single line of code in my entire life. I started
feeling really frustrated and, at the end of the first year, I started thinking that computer science
wasn’t the right choice. However, I decided to resist just another year before quitting definitely.
Guys, guess
what? My second year was amazing!
I started studying hard, I totally changed my attitude and,
finally, I discovered the creative and fun aspect of this world.
I clearly remember those years, they were tough but, at the same
time, challenging. I studied a bunch of new things every day and all classes where
based on cutting edge technologies: algorithms, artificial intelligence, micro processors, data bases
and other nerdy stuff I’d always loved!
When I got my Bachelor Degree my mind was full of ideas and I wanted to use what I had learnt to
create something new. So the first thing I did was to start a little start-up with one of my best
friends. In the same time, I was studying to get my Master Degree in Computer Science with a
focus on Human and Computer Interaction. It was an amazing experience for me! Every day was exciting and I felt like I could become one
of the new computer heroes, like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.
I was in the middle of
the start-up era and, even if I didn’t live in Silicon Valley, the world was changing really, really fast.
During those years I got great satisfaction but had also to face huge failures.
I understood that finding your
place in the world is not so easy, sometimes you feel exhausted and you feel like giving up. But
I think that trying to overcome your fears, trying to make another step in the right direction and
trying to carry on is the only way to grow up and move forward.
Some months ago I got my Master Degree and now I’ve just moved to Milan. I’m currently working for a
huge banking company as a software developer. However, I feel this is not exactly my dream job. I’m already thinking about a new change, I've been thinking about it since I understood this isn’t the right place for me. Though, I'm quite satisfied.
This is a completely new
chapter of my life. I’m facing new challenges, I’m learning how to live alone, far away from my
family, I’m learning how to save money, pay bills and, yes, I’m learning how to wash the dishes
after dinner and I love that!
Changing something in our lives is always frightening, but I think fear must be a part of the
process, because if you are not scared while you are trying something new, it means that you are
not giving the right importance to the challenge.
However, changes are extremely important in life because they allow us to reach better goals such
as a better job or great life experiences. So, I'd like to give you some advice: try to find your path but don't be afraid to change as soon as you understand that the path you are following is not the right one for you, not the one you expected. It’s your life, don’t waste your time living someone else’s life.
I often think about the next move. I have to say, Milan is simply amazing and I love the
lifestyle in this big city. But I would really like to move abroad in the next years
because I started thinking that out country is not the best place to live if you want to move on
with your career.
Another thing I would like to do is teaching Computer Science, especially
programming and because of this I’m going to became a mentor for the Coderdojo project. Coderdojo is a no-profit organisation built on a beautiful mission: to teach children how to
code. Let me say, this is really exciting, especially because often children are better programmers than
some adults.
I would like to close this post with some advice that continuously resound in my mind: live your life in
eternal beta version.
In Software Engineering the beta version of a software is a non-definitive version of the product.
It’s a way the developers use to say: “Hey guys, this software is cool, full of great features and has
an amazing interface but, you know, sometimes it crashes for no reason so be gentle with it, this is
a beta version, we are still workin’ on it and we’ll fix the issues as soon as possible”.
I’m trying to live my life following this principle. I’m always in beta because there is always
something I can improve, something I can do better and step by step I’m going to learn new things,
living new experiences and, of course, fixing some bugs!
Said that, if you need help or advice, if you think that Computer Science could fit your expectations, if
you have doubts about a problem I’ve faced or simply, if you want to talk with me, feel free to
contact me using my email: emanuele.giarlini@gmail.com
Obviously you can find me on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and so on, so if you are interested just
google my name. C’mon dudes, don’t be lazy, Internet is your friend!!
Bye byeee ;-)
Emanuele Giarlini
Hi! We are Mrs. Spila’s students. Our names are: Federica ,Karina and Eugenio. We attend the second year of high school (liceo scientifico, like you) We read your post, it’s so interesting! We love it and we like your story. You are an example for us. We’d like to ask you some questions:
ReplyDeleteYour high school career wasn’t so brilliant, how did you feel when you graduated?
Did your parents support you during your path?
Did you ever think about leaving school when you were a student?
Why did you decide to continue the same course of studies at the University even though you were getting bad marks?
What is your dream job? Where would you like to live if you could leave Italy?
Hi Federica, Karina and Eugenio, nice to meet you, I'm so proud to be an example for you, really, it sounds amazing.
DeleteLet's try to answer to your questions:
1) Your high school career wasn’t so brilliant, how did you feel when you graduated?
Ok, if you are talking about high school graduation I can say that I felt nothing. Really, no emotions at all, average result for an average career so, nothing special. And this is bad, really bad, because it means that I have spent these years doing something I didn't care.
2) Did your parents support you during your path?
Whell, they payed university fees and my mom gave me 30 euros for each "trenta e lode" I got (and yes, I collected several "30 euros" ù.ù). Jokes a part, they where with me during this period and this kind of support was really helpful for me. Sometimes small things are very important to support a person. A hug or a huge pizza after an exam are much more important than a gift IMHO.
3) Did you ever think about leaving school when you were a student?
No, never. I can't tell you why but I never thought about that.
4) Why did you decide to continue the same course of studies at the University even though you were getting bad marks?
Because I think that you have to try if you want to succeed. Run away it's easy but if you always run away you'll never grow. Obviously you don't have to spend to much time on something you don't like or something you think is bad for you but you have to try hard.
5) What is your dream job? Where would you like to live if you could leave Italy?
I would like to became a senior software developer and a team leader in a software house. I love this world and I would like to remain a technical person sourrounded by smart people.
If I could leave Italy I would like to move in Ireland or UK. An other good place to live is Sweden or Finland. These places are perfect if you like cutting edge technology and, let me say, if you wanna earn a lot of money as a developer.
Said that, thank you for your questions I really hope my answers help you. I would like to end this reply talking directly to Karina and Federica. There is a huge lack of woman in technology industry and this is a big problem we must try to solve. If you like math and logic and you are fascinated by computers, algorithms, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other cool things like that, you could became a great computer scientist, so go for it!!
This site is a good starting point, as you can see, there are a lot of girls creating amazing software project, you can be one of those: http://girlswhocode.com/
Good luck and see you on the net ;-)
Hello Emanuele,
ReplyDeletewe are in the third year of Liceo Scientifico, Mrs. Spila’s students, the same school you went to. Our names are Federico, Giuseppe and Lorenzo. Your post is very interesting and we would like to ask you a few questions.
1. Thanks to your skills, what would you like to create as a software designer?
2. What skills and abilities should we have to become software designers?
3. Do you still play the guitar? Do you regret you hadn’t became a famous musician?
4. What do you suggest to students that are in the same situation as you during the first year at university? How could you overcome the difficulty?
5. Are you satisfied with your current wage, do you earn enough to live in Milan?
Hi Federico, Giuseppe and Lorenzo, nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteLet's try to answer your questions:
1) Thanks to your skills, what would you like to create as a software designer?
I love e-learning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology) and artificial intellicgence so I would really like to create systems able to interact with humans and able to teach and learn from them. I know, it sounds like a sci fi movie but computer science is following this direction right now.
2) What skills and abilities should we have to become software designers?
You have to be a good problem solver, so a great understanding of logic and mathematic is mandatory, even because programming is all about logic. A good software designer must be able to understand the high level architecture of a software but is focused and detail oriented, so you have to move on many levels of abstraction. You MUST be good at english. Don't expect traslated books, the official language of computers is english, books in english, documentation in english, video tutorial in english and, in La Sapienza University, a lot of courses are taught in english so you have to be able to read technical documentation and understand spoken language. I'll give you an advice: start watching TV series in english and start reading books in this language right now.
3) Do you still play the guitar? Do you regret you hadn’t became a famous musician?
Yea, I still play guitar but I couldn't be able to turn this passion into a job. I don't have regrets, music and computer science have a lot of things in common so, I'm quite happy even I never became a famous musician.
4) What do you suggest to students that are in the same situation as you during the first year at university? How could you overcome the difficulty?
I suggest you to change your aptitude. University is totally different from High Scool. In High Scool often you succeed if you have a good memory in University you have to understand the topic. I think that this is one of the best things in University because forces you to study and feeds your curiosity. Let's say that to be a good University student you have to be curious, so never feel satisfied unless you completely understand an example or a particular topic.
To overcome difficulties is never easy but face a problem is the only way to grow. And let me tell you, you'll face problems for the rest of your life so use the University period to become strong and resilient, I think that this could be a great baptism of fire for you. Remember, there is nothing shameful to fail an exam or an interview if you understand your errors and you work to do better next time ;-)
5) Are you satisfied with your current wage, do you earn enough to live in Milan?
This is a good question because earn enaugh money is important to leave a good life. I'm satisfied with my wage, I can pay the bills, save some money and have a holiday with my girlfiend once in a while. I'm not rich but I have just four or five years of experience as a software developer (I worked as a freelance during University period). I know that I could earn much more money, expecially if I left this country, but for now, I'm ok with my wage.
Thank you for your questions guys, if you wanna get in touch with me feel free to send me a mail or add me on Facebook.
Good luck and see you on the net ;-)