2023, I think, has been one of the best (and crazy) years of my life by far.
Numerous events and opportunities emerged throughout the year, pushing me to test my limits, enhance my skills, and bolster my confidence.
But let's start from the beginning.
What did I do?
Finally, I started contributing to open-source projects, like VERAMO and Hyperledger Foundation Anoncreds.
Thriving in the Hackathon Realm
I attend my first in-person hackathon in Lisbon (ZK Hack) and the zkSummit9 conference in April.
It was an experience I want to recommend to everyone who wants to become a developer. I went there with no expectations; I knew I was a noob, so I was a little bit scared, but with a huge amount of curiosity and with my willingness to learn.
In the end, 0xCaso and I won a prize for the best ZK off-chain project using Sismo. Not bad, right?
I met many crazy and amazing people who shared their experiences and encouraged me to continue and do better (special thanks to Emiliano Bonassi 
).
And it was just the beginning!
ETHZurich in April, ETHDam in May, and the 1st ETHRome in October. I won other prizes, did crazy networking, and found a fantastic trio to develop amazing projects (thanks to 0xCaso 👌🏼 and bianc8_eth 🤌🏼).
My Speaking Debut
In May, I had the opportunity to pitch my work and ideas about Decentralized Identity at the European Identity and Cloud Conference 2023 in Berlin with Monokee.
It was my first experience as a speaker; I was so anxious and, at the same time, excited about this fantastic opportunity. After all, despite some imperfections, I’m super happy and proud of my performance.
Looking Ahead to 2024
Now, for 2024, I have a dense roadmap with even more events, hackathons, and opportunities I can’t miss.
First among them, ETHDenver 
, and for the first time in the US 
. Can’t wait!
Cheers! 👋🏼
