I immigrated to the United States in 2015 from my home country, Peru, leaving behind friends, family, and, most importantly, my comfort zone. After arriving, I turned to art and photography as a way to cope with the challenges of starting over. With my first phone, an iPhone 6, I began capturing photos of things that intrigued me, like clouds, unique architecture, and city streets. Around the same time, I discovered jailbreaking, which allowed me to customize my phone’s functionalities to suit my preferences. While I enjoyed using my phone, I knew it was capable of so much more. Jailbreaking my first iPhone opened up a new world for me—it showed me that these functionalities were built with code, and I could create with it too.

In my freshman year of college, I took an iOS development class and realized I could combine my visual skills with coding to create tools for people. I loved that this work allowed me to merge both my artistic and technical passions. I started working in retail and eventually applied to the Apple Store, joining the SoHo location during my sophomore year. This experience helped me grow as both a person and a communicator. While working there, I achieved a long-held dream: an internship at Apple. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I had the privilege of collaborating with some of the most talented people in the world.

Now, I’m in my final year of pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology at NJIT. I’m passionate about the intersection of design and development and am seeking opportunities to work with teams that share my enthusiasm for design. I love empowering people to do their best work and have applied this philosophy in projects ranging from startups to large companies.