đ Chapter 1: The Summer of 2012
A pivotal moment that started it all.
It was the summer of 2012. âïž
While most teenagers were spending their days at the beach or playing video games, I was hanging out with two of my high school classmates â weâll call them Walter and Durango. They were already getting serious about their futures, preparing for university entrance exams using the famous Alpha Test books for engineering.
They were locked in â solving logic puzzles, practicing under time pressure, and talking about functions and equations like they were trading PokĂ©mon cards.
Me? I had other plans.
I was absolutely convinced I wanted to study physical education. Not just casually â I was 100% committed to enrolling in ISEF, the Italian university institute for physical education. Volleyball had been a huge part of my life, and I dreamed of going further: maybe becoming a coach, maybe working with athletes, maybe even making a career out of something I genuinely loved.
But life, as it often does, had other ideas.
⥠Chapter 2: A Seaside Spark
How a walk with my father changed everything.
One day, while walking with my father through the streets of the seaside town where we were spending our holidays, something hit me. âĄ
At that time, iPhones werenât as common as they are today, and we were right in the middle of the "app boom." There were apps for everything: games, drawing, tracking data, organizing tasks. Some were free. Many were paid.
And I remember asking myself:
âPeople actually pay for these? Even the simple ones?â
It blew my mind. đ€Ż
How big was this market? Who were the people building these digital tools? How did you even start learning to do that?
That summer walk planted a seed. đ± The idea of creating useful things â things people might actually use and value â started to grow. And from that moment on, I couldnât unsee it.
đ§ Chapter 3: From Zero Skills to a Clear Direction
The leap into the unknown.
Little by little, I began to seriously consider engineering. Specifically, computer engineering.
And here's the honest part:
I had no experience in computer science. No programming background. No teenage side projects or garage hackathons. My high school didnât even offer computer science as a subject.
My knowledge of computers stopped at typing in Word and occasionally crashing my familyâs printer. đšïž
And, to be completely candid, I wasnât the best in my class at math or physics, either. There were classmates who consistently outperformed me in those subjects. Walter, Durango â they were always the top students when it came to solving complex equations or understanding physics concepts. But that didnât stop me.
So why did I choose it? Simple: because it seemed useful.
Not romantic, not passionate â just⊠logical.
I saw an industry growing fast, filled with tools people were clearly willing to pay for. I saw opportunity. And I thought:
âMaybe I can learn how this all works.â
It wasnât love at first sight. But it was enough to start walking down the path. đ€ïž
âïž Chapter 4: Math, Physics, and the Process of Elimination
Finding my fit in the world of engineering.
To be fair, I had always enjoyed scientific subjects. Math and physics had a certain clarity to them that I appreciated â clean, structured, rational.
But I also knew what I didn't want.
Mechanical engineering? Too grounded in physics. I couldnât picture myself designing machines or analyzing how materials deform under stress.
Electronic engineering? The laws of electric circuits never really spoke to me. They felt abstract and disconnected from anything that excited me.
Computer engineering, on the other hand, felt like the sweet spot.
A solid foundation in math and logic, but aimed toward building tools, solving problems, and â eventually â making things that could end up on someoneâs phone. It was both conceptual and practical. And it felt right. â
đȘ Chapter 5: The Pursuit of the Goal
Hard work and determination paid off.
Once I made the decision in the summer of 2012, I threw myself into the pursuit of that goal with everything I had. đ„
It wasnât easy, and it wasnât immediate. I wasnât the best at math or physics, and I had no prior programming experience. But I was determined. While Walter and Durango had started preparing earlier, I quickly caught up and outpaced them. By March 2013, I was the first one among us to successfully complete the entrance process and secure a spot in one of the engineering tracks at Politecnico di Torino. đ
How did I manage it? Simple. I worked. đŒ
I spent hours every day, tackling problems and reviewing concepts in the Alpha Test books â the same ones Walter and Durango were using â alongside the usual homework that filled my life as a high school student. I divided my time carefully, balancing daily tasks with intense preparation for the entrance exams. đ
There was no magic trick. Just hard work and focus. I wasnât just preparing for an exam; I was preparing for a future I hadnât fully imagined yet, but that was slowly starting to take shape.
It wasnât about being the best in the room. It was about being the most committed, and for me, that made all the difference. đȘ
đ Chapter 6: The Foundation of Who I Am Today
How my father and his iPhone made all the difference.
If I am who I am today â an embedded computer engineer â I owe it largely to those long conversations with my father and his now-outdated iPhone. đ±
Those quiet moments, filled with questions and curiosity, set me on a path that, at the time, seemed uncertain and almost impractical. But it was in those discussions that I began to realize how much I enjoyed figuring out how things worked, how technology could shape the world around us.
That old iPhone, with its apps and its possibilities, was the spark. But it was my fatherâs encouragement, his steady support, and those moments of reflection that gave me the confidence to take the leap. Without him, without those conversations, I donât think I would have ever pursued this path.
And while the journey has had its challenges, Iâm grateful for how it unfolded.
Because sometimes, a single question â asked at the right time, during a simple walk â is all it takes to change the course of your life. đ