To keep it short I am an aspiring software developer with a particular interest in Java. My coding journey started though in the days of MySpace, when I edited my profile with HTML and CSS to make it more appealing to my fourteen year old self.

Later on I did some more HTML and CSS for high school until the class curriculum stopped. Afterwards it did not occur to me that I could continue my coding journey along to the more focussed foreign language classes I took in school ( I am though still able to communicate fluently in four languages - German, English, French and Romanian).

My university studies concentrated on political science and international economics, as my priorities lied in this field. I basically wanted to work in the public sector, serving the public interest to the best of my abilities. After some internships in this area, I landed a job at a big German lobbying association working on international issues (think Brexit, trade). In my time there I got familiar with the disruptions faced by industrial manufacturers due to digitalisation and their difficulties adapting to these changes. My interest in this area grew more and more until I decided one day to finally try myself to write some software to understand what this fuss was all about.

I went to a two days long seminar of the FernUniversität Hagen (open distance learning university in Germany) in my home town to try some Python programming. Although I did not know much about scripting, I completely fell in love with it and was instantly fascinated by what one can achieve with Python. The instructor showed us for example how AI computer vision worked - I was instantly hooked but did not know how to continue henceforth. Therefore, I registered to take some online classes at the FernUniversität Hagen to complete a Master degree in "Practical Computer Science".

It was during my distance learning courses that I finally caught a grip on Java, including its programmatic components and my learning journey still continues.

I am driven by learning and discovering new topics. My whole professional life has meant to dive deep and head on to difficult and complex topics (from monetary policy, financial regulation, trade policy, dual use regulation to software development).

My ambition remains to become a better software developer, learn, have the possibility to grow professionally and be a good team mate. If you know of any software developer opening in Germany/ Austria (on site or remote), just shoot me an email at valerie.dev.de@gmail.com (my Github profile will follow shortly).