Javier E. Fajardo

^{Up on top of the Stawamus Chief Mountain in British Columbia with good friends}

^{(Picture by Nathan Lam)}

It's been a while since I had the time to sit down and write something. With so many things constantly happening at work, in my home, with my parents, with friends, time really does fly by. It's hard to realize if you don't stop and take a look back. But there's something I wanted to sit down and make sure wouldn't just pass by.

^{Sunset in between high-rises. Wild, unsafe and dirty; Caracas was my city and I loved it until the day I left.}

^{(Own Picture)}

On August 28th, 2012, I left my home, Venezuela, looking for a better future. I left behind my parents, family, girlfriend, my chilhood friends, the usual places I knew so well and the streets in which I had grown up... And I came to Montreal, Canada and started studying Computer Engineering. It wasn't easy. It was definitely a hard change. The winters were harsh and long. I spent countless, sleepless nights working non-stop. I was always playing catch-up to everyone around me. Starting out, I lived in a small, studio apartment that had a single window smaller than your average-sized computer monitor. And I did really stupid, awkward things while adjusting to life in Canada. Beyond my four cousins, I didn't know anyone and no one knew me. But it didn't matter; I was determined to keep going.

I really was chasing the dream of a better future, and many times over the years it felt like I wouldn't be making it. Failure was not an option though. Why? Well, Venezuela has never been known for its stability in recent times. While I was growing up, Caracas became the most dangerous city in the world and we became adjusted to a way of life that is, by all accounts, insane. To call us paranoid, would fall short of the unhealthy fear we lived in and many people still live through in Venezuela. So once I left, I got to see and live something completely different. And that something, that je ne sais quoi I found here in Canada, was (and is still!) worth everything to me.

In Summer 2013, I went back home to check up on my family and friends. Things hadn't imploded in Venezuela yet at that time, but there were strong shortages throughout. Most people didn't have plans to leave Venezuela and I distinctly remember one of my childhood friends asking me why I'd stay in Canada. To be fair, I had been complaining about life as a poor student in winter-struck Montreal. My answer to him back then was: opportunity; there's so much more of it in Canada than there could ever be in Venezuela for our generation. But that was only part of the answer, and I didn't know it yet.

Now that I sit down and think about it, what I found here in Canada was home. A place I could actually grow in and strive for a better future, together with the people around me.

Over the years, I would have the pleasure of meeting some incredible people and making some great friends, starting with awesome people at University who became my second family.

^{Awesome People I spent my entire undergrad with, during the Spring 2017 Iron Ring Reception}

^{(Picture by Dream Artz Photography, Montreal)}

^{Concordia University's team at the 2017 Computer Science Games Banquet.}

^{The Software Engineering and Computer Science Society, involved in selecting the team, was a huge part of my University experience}

^{(Picture by Xavier Legault of Photo Voltaic)}

^{Having one last beer with as many people as possible at McKibbin's in Montreal}

^{(Picture by Nicholas Feller)}

Outside of University, I got to work with some very smart people

^{The intial development team behind Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade at Behaviour Interactive in 2014.}

^{We were two interns. It was our first week. And we got cake.}

^{(Source unknown)}

... Including the devs behind Gears of War 4

^{The Coalition Winter 2016 Interns (1 missing) during the last day of the internship.}

^{(Source Unknown)}

^{The Coalition Summer 2016 Interns (1 missing) meeting Phil Spencer in Building 83, Redmond, WA.}

^{(Source Unknown)}

^{The Coalition and Microsoft Leadership Team in MS Vancouver after Gears of War 4 went gold. Saty Nadella, CEO, is holding the gold copy.}

^{(Copyright Xbox Wire - Source)}

Even after having graduated, I'm fortunate enough to have made a great group of friends at work...

 ^{Having fun at the 2018 SFU Anime Festival with my awesome teammates.}

^{(Picture from Thai Nguyen taken by Adrian Lim)}

 ^{Celebrating Nenad's birthday in December 2017 with work friends. There was a lot to drink.}

^{(Picture by Nenad Banfic)}

Six years later, Canada is Home for me. And it's not only because I've been here for so long, but because the people have made it feel like home.

There's always lots of challenges when you try to rebuild your life in another country. There always will be. It's not nearly as easy as this one blog post might make it seem. But it's been worth it. And it is a huge relief to have found the place where I belong.

^{Sunrise in Vancouver's Canada Place}

^{(Own Picture)}

There's probably not a day that passes by in which I don't feel incredibly lucky and thankful for having made it all the way to Vancouver. These six years have been a blast and I can't imagine what the next couple of years will hold.

Here's to the future!

"Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Your life may change, but your dream doesn't have to. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Your spouse and children need not get in its way, because the dream is within you. No one can take your dream away."

Tom Clancy (1947 - 2013)

as quoted in "Writers" (1995)