From High School Dropout to Working in Tech at 17 and Getting a O-1 Visa

My story for people who are motivated to work hard to get what they want and choose the right industry to work in.

Myself

I was born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, one hour away from the city. Not the most beautiful town, in fact, pretty dangerous and dirty. Middle-low class. My grandma and mom raised me, single-child, and never met my dad. Spent a lot of time on the computer since the moment I was born. But I’d actually never imagined that a kid like me, without finishing high school, skipping college, from a poor town in Argentina would be able to work in such a competitive industry and make money in USD at 17. 

All of this started in 2020, it was my last year of high school and that time was tough. The year of covid happening, almost an entire year of quarantine, struggling with financial stuff (because Argentina reached peak of inflation, and my family closed the business given the situation) 

I was really questioning myself what I’d do with my life now. What’s next for me if there’s no hope in a country with 211% annual inflation, 46% of the population in poverty and misery. The necessity of actually helping my future self and my family after a huge economic breakdown was something that lived on my head the entire year; 

So I thought: I want to fix my life. I don’t want this for my future. Seeing myself spending 5 years in the university, without a job (or with one but making miserable devalued money) and seeing young people around me with degrees and still not being financially free —the thought of it made me sick. 

I also wanted to leave my house, as the environment was toxic and chaotic. My mom was struggling with depression and unemployment, and my grandma had suffered a stroke. These challenges created my determination to work hard. I believe that in the most uncomfortable moments, you find the actual motivation to seek and find opportunities that will lift you out of them.

Casually I was spending time on twitter and I saw that someone shared a course about Javascript and Web Development. I started to do research on how the work looked like, how much you can get paid, things you can build. And I actually loved it— the idea of being able to make money in a stable currency working for another country was like a dream (and I felt it difficult to reach at that time) but not impossible. So I forced myself to learn how to code to get a job later that year. 

Surprisingly, I did teach myself how to code and got a job in a gaming company as a frontend developer, at that time they were paying me only $100 USD. It was an amazing deal for me, getting experience and also a salary in dollars? Dream job. I was so into my role that I just preferred to focus on that. Instead of going to high school, I was spending my time working with a shitty computer that later on will become a better one, and that later on will bring me more opportunities. 

It’s something that I do not regret at all. I’ve always been self-taught at the end of the day. But dropping out of high school is like jumping to a pool with no water without even knowing what is on there. In a country like Argentina, with almost no opportunities, it was a high-risk decision. It required me to have a bunch of self-confidence and motivation.

Choosing the Right Industry: Why Crypto? 

When I started to make money and started thinking like an adult, I started to see that the inflation and devaluation of the currency actually sucked. Before, it was just something that adults were complaining about. But then I started to live that situation in first hand. 

So I discovered a way to have the savings of my current job on something easier to access (I couldn’t access a proper bank account, I was 17, no credit score, no cards.)

Stablecoins. I started to play with exchanges and find out that you can open an account without difficult requirements and not even needing to present any documents. And this is when I deep dive into the industry: since I was already working as a developer, I got the interest on how can I actually work on this and how everything works behind, it was really cool. So that’s when I transitioned to solidity and, it was really hot at that time (imagine end of 2020) not too much supply of solidity devs and I saw a huge opportunity. 

the reason #1 why crypto is a real use case in latam.

So I got my first job as a solidity developer a few months after and been working with amazing engineers that were able to teach me and that helped me during the way. I was still not making as much money (I think I was making $900 usd per month) but it was more than any 18 year old kid will do without a degree. 

The limitation I felt at that time was that I was struggling with my English, I didn’t speak it at all. “Jumping” to a better salary (aka, working in a US/worldwide company) seemed out of reach. So I said; f*ck it, I’ll learn english. Dedication and discipline is all that matters in these moments, here we go again.

Two years later, in 2022, I got my first American job doing devrel. That’s when I learned the most English—using Google Translate during meetings at first—but I got to scale my salary to $70K annually at just 19 years old, and again, for Argentina is something incredible. I was saving a lot, investing in crypto and DeFi, and feeling great about my progress.

Choosing crypto as my industry over the past four years has been the best decision I’ve made. It’s an industry that doesn’t care if you have a degree, attended an Ivy League school, or where you come from. If you’re passionate, hard-working, and can show results, you’re in.

Working as a Developer Relations also taught me how to communicate technical concepts, teach others, learn new things, and improve my English skills. It even opened doors for me to travel the world—I’ve visited five continents so far in the last 2 years. Before joining this industry, I had never left my country, and that’s still something that still shocks me —how scalable your life can be.

I have many other reasons why I choose this industry but that is for another blog post.

Getting a O-1 “Extraordinary Ability” Visa

I visited the United States for the first time in 2023 and explored New York. I completely fell in love with the country, its people, and especially New York City—the heavy energy and competitive landscape made me sense big opportunities.

I’m someone who likes challenges and dislikes staying in my comfort zone. I reached a point in my life where I wanted more, to push myself even further, and open new doors. Moving to a place like America felt like the right step.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Argentina. One of my goals is to contribute to making Argentina great again—onboarding millions to build in the industry and seeing the country return to what it was.

But your early 20s are supposed to be for new challenges, new life experiences and… why not?. So I’ve applied for an O-1 visa. After working hard on my case with my attorneys, I finally got it approved, at 21 years old. I presented all my work from the past years, my articles, my workshops, the startup I’ve built (yes, I also built a company) and my persona—to the USCIS.

I’ve had a picture of New York City on my vision board since I was a little kid, dreaming of someday visiting the city. After a year of just being a tourist in America, I’m now able to live here for a few years and experience it firsthand. When I got approved, I was overwhelmed with emotions, crying all day and kind of in shock. Four years of hard work finally paid off.

My actual neighborhood

Believing in Yourself

I’ve had countless moments where I doubted myself, feeling like I wasn’t good enough and that it would never work out. Add to that the voices of family and strangers telling me I was crazy for dropping out of high school and not following the traditional path. But pushing through those thoughts requires a certain level of confidence and determination that keeps you focused, despite the fears. What if I fail and end up miserable? What if I don’t reach my financial goals and have to go back to a toxic environment? What if I can’t get the visa and end up disappointed in myself? The 'what ifs' can be endless.

If I hadn’t believed in myself, if I had just sat there complaining about how hard life is, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Life is about taking risks.

That kid with dreams, fears, and passion is still alive in me, and I’ll never lose her. It’s important not to.

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I’m excited to keep contributing to the industry, keep learning about things that I feel passionate about and the future in general. Hopefully this post helps you to work hard for your dreams, and specially knowing why and what do you want to do. I strongly believe that money is not everything at the end of the day, and waking up feeling that you’re pursuing an objective feels even more exciting.