I’ve heard that imagination combined with knowledge is one of the most powerful tools in a person’s arsenal. Some even call it magic. So, my twenty-one-year-old self, Nijaz Andelić, wants to become the best and most creative wizard possible.
I am a Computer Science student at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology. I first encountered Lego bricks at the age of five, which means I have around 15 years of experience in problem-solving. Joking aside, I've shown an interest in engineering since childhood through these Lego bricks and the influence of an older friend who is now a senior software engineer.
My cousins often teased me by turning off my joystick while they were gaming— a funny experience.
During elementary school, I delved deeper into computers through games (P.S. I played all the good games at my software engineering friend’s house because I had a “junk” computer).
However, that junk computer had a huge impact on my career path.
Playing Minecraft Hunger Games, experiencing game lag during
fights was not pleasant and made me search “How to speed up
Minecraft” for the first time. This led to new problems like
needing more RAM, GPU… But, what is RAM?
And so I became a googler
(What is RAM? How to get more RAM without buying parts? FPS?
GPU?...). That’s where
my problem-solving and googling skills began. Long story short, one of my hobbies today is assembling
computers and computer configurations.
I enrolled in high school for electrical engineering because of Computer Science, and from extremely traumatic experiences, my love for programming was born.
I remember well that in the second grade of high school, while typing double nested loops, I said these loops would never be useful for programming because it’s Pascal… Ah, the good old days… And so, officially, in the summer of 2019, I wrote my first independent line of code—believe it or not—in Python. A language I still don’t like today (I’m more of a Java guy, or maybe because Python it’s a good rival to my JavaScript).
I quickly moved away from Python and started a career in Web Development. Despite many breaks, mistakes, failures, and moments of doubt, I managed to train my brain to work when it’s hardest… Of course, this wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t love programming.
So, I firmly say, programming is Me, and I am a programmer. I love engineering and optimization, so I even pretend to be Dijkstra in my head, finding the shortest possible routes (calculating constraints by traffic lights) to get somewhere the fastest—I consider it algorithm practice.
As a child, I said I wanted to be a “Doctor for computers”, and to this day, I aim for that target (A wizard with a gun—interesting).
To keep it short, the magic wand I am currently improving the most is React. I love creating magic in React, but I also work with other frontend technologies (React, React Native, JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, HTML, CSS…).
One of my best React projects is the Dono app, which you can check out. Other projects are on my GitHub and this page, and I advise you to take a look at them.
So people don’t think I only think about programming and tech, one of my biggest hobbies throughout my life is sports. I trained karate for 11 years, creating incredible discipline and self-control skills. .
I am a proud black belt first dan in karate. To this day, I regret not continuing actively, but my competitive spirit wants to be the best, and being the best in sports and studies simultaneously is almost impossible.
After retiring as a karateka in March 2021, I continued my sports career actively in the gym and running. Occasionally, I play some football too.
People often scold me for talking and writing a lot, but I have to mention all these things and try to do it as quickly and briefly as possible. Maybe one day I’ll make a short film, it’s more interesting to watch than to read (depends on who you ask). Speaking of reading, I’ve read about twenty modern psychology, philosophy, self-improvement, medicine, and communication books, which have significantly contributed to my confidence and knowledge. The internet is the internet, but I see a special power in books. You can find my book list somewhere in the attachments. I am often praised for being a great stage presence, a good presenter, and pitchman, and my literature teacher in high school told me I should absolutely be an actor.
From everything mentioned, I conclude that I have excellent leadership skills (and talent) because I’m always ready to take one for the team, eat last, and listen. Adding hardworking and presenting skills, we get… Magic.
Thank you for reading the autobiography of a wizard. For any collaboration, advice, or questions—get in touch.