A former inmate spent ages 14-16 in maximum security juvenile prison and became a felon at 19 after struggling with addiction and drug dealing. Despite multiple setbacks, he found hope in a newspaper article about Techtonic offering internships to at-risk youth. This chance encounter became his bridge into software development.

Starting as a full-stack web developer with no formal training, he learned through trial-by-fire at Techtonic across multiple tech stacks including Ruby on Rails, MongoDB, and early React. The company's contract work provided hands-on experience launching SaaS MVPs. Despite this breakthrough, his past struggles would continue to influence his path forward.

After being fired due to a manager's false accusations, he spiraled back into addiction, losing his job and stability. His journey demonstrates how even with a second chance in tech, past patterns can resurface. The story offers raw honesty about the challenges of rebuilding life after incarceration and addiction.