Intro
From factory floor to full-stack developer — and now looking beyond borders
Twelve years ago, I arrived in Korea without knowing the language, the culture, or where my life was headed.
I started where many immigrants do — on a factory floor, getting yelled at in a language I didn't understand.
Over the years, I slowly worked my way forward. I learned Korean — clumsily at first, but persistently.
I moved into translation and technical support roles at a medical company — and, without realizing it at the time, began what would become a long-term journey through the healthcare space.
For nearly five years now, I've worked in and around medical environments: first as an engineer supporting clinical equipment, then in a biomedical research lab within a university hospital, and most recently, in a healthcare software team.
I earned a degree in civil engineering in Russia, which gave me a strong foundation in real-world systems. Later, I completed a master's program in smart city systems at SKKU in Korea, deepening my knowledge of applied technologies.
While it wasn't a traditional computer science track, these experiences helped me build technical intuition and problem-solving skills in complex environments.
Now I'm currently finishing a formal CS degree — adding structure to what I've already been doing in practice for years.
This past year has been especially meaningful in my journey.
I'm deeply grateful to the team that gave me a chance — not because I checked every box, but because they believed in someone with a non-traditional background and a non-native language.
That trust meant a lot to me, and I've done my best every day to earn it.
I hope I've brought more value than difficulty, and contributed in a way that made the risk worthwhile.
Over time, I've grown more confident not just in writing code, but in designing systems that are stable, maintainable, and grounded in real-world needs.
I've learned to write clean, understandable code and to think beyond "does it work?" toward "will it keep working — and will others understand and support it?"
Along the way, I've also explored microservices and distributed systems best practices to ensure my solutions are efficient and future-proof when they need to be.
I also took part in a remote volunteer project based in Australia.
It gave me the opportunity to collaborate with people from different backgrounds and cultures, across time zones — and helped me better understand how distributed teams work in practice.
I learned a lot about communication, ownership, and how to stay aligned on values and goals, even when you're not in the same room — or even the same continent.
And now, after 12 years in Korea, I feel ready for the next chapter.
Not out of frustration — but out of growth.
I want to contribute to global teams, learn from people around the world, and take on more complex and meaningful challenges.
If you're building something international, human-centered, and real — I'd love to connect.