Beyond the Code

👋 Who I am

I’m Juan, a computer engineer from Valencia, Venezuela. I came to programming thanks to a cousin who is a programmer: he taught me a lot and encouraged me to pursue a degree in it. There I found a field with applications in almost everything and a future that excited me, built on something I have always enjoyed: mathematics and physics.

💡 What drives me

What I enjoy most about my work is seeing that what I do helps someone: a team that wastes less time, a company that decides with better data, the people who use what I build every day. I like to think that this is how I do my part for other people’s progress, while providing for myself and my family.

💻 How I work

People who have worked with me would say I like doing things properly, and that I give my best so the result is excellent. It is not enough for something to work: I check that every number adds up, that every piece of text says exactly what it should, and that whoever uses it never has to guess.

✝️ My faith

I’m a Christian. I follow Christ, and to me that means believing in Him and putting His teachings into practice. It is the most important part of my life, and it shows in how I work: I try to be honest, punctual and responsible; patient with others; a teammate who collaborates and keeps the peace; respectful of those who lead me; and wholehearted in every task, as for God and not only for whoever reviews it.

🌱 Where I’m growing

My English: I read it fluently, and I’m now working on my listening and speaking. I also regularly review topics from my degree, to refresh them or to fully understand what did not quite click at the time, and I try to keep up with what is new in technology. Beyond tech, I’m also studying for a bachelor’s degree in Theology.

🎯 Where I’m headed

• In the short term, I want to settle into a developer role that lets me become independent and keep growing in what I do.
• In the medium term, I want to speak English fluently, earn a master’s degree related to my field and lead larger teams and projects as a developer.
• In the long term, I want to get married and raise a family.

🎮 Outside work

I enjoy video games, anime and going out with my friends. And, for the fun of it, I study mathematics and physics: it is the same curiosity that led me to computing.

Why “jscalon”?

The name is put together like a small puzzle. The j is for Juan. scalon comes from Escalona, my second surname. And the mix hides two nods to programming: js, the usual abbreviation for JavaScript, the language behind almost everything I build, and scal, as in scale, because good software has to be able to grow. And that is where the logo comes from, a staircase: in Spanish, escalar means both to scale and to climb, so the image ties Escalona to software that grows.