New Beginnings

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. — Theodore Roosevelt

"On the top of the world" is how I describe my current state of mind as I finally conclude my search for something amazing to be a part of in the next chapter of my life, once I'm finally done with school for good.

After what seemed to be as long as a lifetime of nerve-wracking job applications and interviews with some of the top browser vendors around, I have found a perfect fit at Igalia, working with some of the most inspiring people I know as part of their Compilers team.

The main focus of my work would be working on different JavaScript engines (or all of them? I already have two checked out and will get WebKit/JavaScriptCore set up locally today, RIP my MacBook) and getting more involved in Web Standards bodies, starting with TC39 among other things.

The fun part is: while this is huge for me professionally, the implications have just started to seep into my personal life. While some of the changes might feel bittersweet, do keep in mind that I genuinely believe that they will positively affect my personal life.

Most noticeably, I have stepped down from the Electron Upgrades Working Group, which means that I'm no longer involved with the project as a maintainer. This has been by far one of the hardest decisions I've had to make since I've met some of the most amazing people I know through Electron, and while it would be hard to say goodbye, I'm sure we'll keep running into each other.

Another thing is that in order to brace for a load of interviews (and let me tell you, it was quite a load), I stopped applying to conference CFPs at some point. I had just four last conferences planned for this fall, one of which I couldn't attend and another now hangs in the balance, so that wasn't much reassuring either, but anyone who knows me well knows that I'm no stranger to all sorts of weird visa trouble, so 🤷‍♂️.

While I'll try to spend the remaining time in school focussing on work and finalizing plans for the future (since I'd always wanted to move to the EU after school), I'm not quite sure how things will translate once all that's done since Igalia is super remote-friendly and I really enjoy speaking at conferences. I might find it easier, since I'd probably not need to apply for any more Schengen visas (I'd likely still need visas for Russia, but anything for мои люди ❤️).

The nicer side of this is that I can now choose to focus my attention on things that are closer to my work (which funnily happens to be the problem space I'm most passionate about) and some not-so-urgent things that I'd been really looking forward to but never found the time to get deeper in. This also includes blogging more often about life and work, so watch this space.

That said, the bottom line is, I'm drinking amazing coffee and doing stuff that I've always wanted to do, working alongside people I've always wanted to work with, so I'm doing really amazing and there's a small feeling that this might just be the beginning.

Looking forward to all sorts of amazing things.