In 2015 I left Como for a year and moved to Novato, in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for an exchange year in the US. This year sits in the middle of my Como years — but it deserves its own chapter.

An American student

I lived there with an amazing family and attended Novato High School like a real American student — it's just like in the movies. I even graduated from there, making me one of the few people who have two high school diplomas. Not sure how useful that is, but it's cool.

Mr. Corey's product design class

The highlight of school was being part of Mr. Corey's product design class, where I learned how to build products end to end — my special alarm clock is what I built in that class. He is definitely the best teacher I've ever had. It's also thanks to him that I learned about Bitcoin for the very first time, which influenced a lot of my interests later on.

A completely new reality

At that time, it was definitely the best year of my life. I couldn't speak English before, and I came across a completely new reality — so the year was full of learnings.

Even though back then I didn't know much about Silicon Valley, my interest in electronics brought me to visit the Computer History Museum for the first time.

I can definitely say that this year changed the trajectory of my life more than any other year so far (until back then, at least).

[More details and pictures to come.]