This path wasn’t in my original schema. But the data’s pretty good so far.

During my high school days, I was a pretty simple guy — not someone in the spotlight among my classmates. My grades were average overall, but I stood out in math and chemistry. In my last year of high school, I had an excellent chemistry teacher who encouraged me to apply for a chemistry program in college.

In Brazil, we have something called ENEM, short for Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio. It’s a massive standardized test that pretty much every student takes at the end of high school, and it plays a huge role in getting into university — kind of like the SAT or ACT in the US, but even more central to the college admissions process.

That final year, I studied hard to get a good ENEM score and try to enroll in a chemistry course. Thankfully, I was accepted into the Chemical Engineering program at Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR). But there was a problem: to follow that dream, I needed to move to another state, and at that time, my parents simply couldn’t afford the costs of living, food, and everything else.

Looking back now, not going to UTFPR might have actually been a good thing, since it pushed me toward other opportunities that turned out even better. But in 2014, I couldn’t see that yet — I felt like everything I had worked for was for nothing.

In early 2015, I started studying again to give it another shot, this time trying to enroll in a university in a nearby city called São Carlos, which is a major hub for science and engineering programs. But the University of São Carlos is also one of the most competitive in the country. By the end of 2015, I found out I hadn’t been accepted.

After weeks of feeling depressed and wondering what I would do with my life, my dad suggested I try a computer program at FATEC. I was reluctant — I knew nothing about computers, and even less about coding. But after some conversations and a bit of research, I decided to trust my dad’s advice and go for it.

So in July 2016, I was accepted at FATEC and started exploring this whole new world of computer science and programming.

During the next 1.5 years, I focused on studying algorithms, programming logic, and hardware. I also made some great friends — one of my best friends today is actually from that time.

Then in 2017, I landed an internship on a Data Science team at a fintech startup. That’s where I learned a lot, not just about data, but also how to solve real problems with code and work alongside experienced engineers.

After two years as an intern, they offered me a full-time position — and that’s how I accidentally became a Data Engineer.

It’s funny how life works. I thought I’d be mixing chemicals, not writing code. But here I am — still learning, still breaking things (on purpose or not), and honestly, still loving it.

It’s working out better than I could’ve written it myself.

Who knows what’s next? I’m just here for the ride.