online for other people . I built a travel buddy app . I ’ ve always been drawn to innovation . And although I don ’ t run a business right now full-time , that spirit of entrepreneurship is something I feel like I always carry .
What did you do after college ? I got a certification right after I finished college in New York to teach English . And a month after graduating , I booked a oneway to Thailand . I was like , ‘ Alright , let me just do one year . It ’ s going to be this little nice trip for me .’ It ended up being five years . I taught in Thailand and then Japan . I met a mentor while I was teaching , and she was a Dominican woman who was a digital nomad . She introduced me to tech-related things . I applied to a coding boot camp in Barcelona , and that was a four-month program where I was in class from 9 a . m . to 9 p . m ., Monday to Saturday . After that , I got a job as a software engineer back in New York . I had to come back to Rhode Island because of personal matters , a death in my family . That was 2022 .
What was it like moving back to Rhode Island after living abroad and in New York ? It was a big transition . I felt like I was learning Rhode Island all over again because technically , I hadn ’ t really lived here since high school . And so relearning things , and also appreciating things more . Every time I travel , I feel like I meet a different part of myself . The growth in that , the adaptability that you need for that — that ’ s at the heart of entrepreneurship . Day-to-day , I channel that spirit of adaptability , of adventure , when I help others and encourage them to chart their own path , however unique or crazy it sounds .
Have your experiences traveling given you a better perspective on what you do here ? Absolutely . I lived in Asia , but I traveled through India and Africa and all these other places . And just meeting all types of people [ who ] work with what they have and are extremely happy — not having all the material things , or sometimes having a lot of material things , but their spirit is really what matters . That ’ s helped me . Because it makes me a lot less judgmental of folks , especially what we see on the outside . I feel like there ’ s something learned from everyone .
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