In our #HumansofSymph series, get to know more about Van May Diongzon, an adventurous guy and truly the human form of a smiley emoji because he’s always smiling, even with challenging projects. Before he became a developer, he was actually a shiftee from two courses. When he’s not coding, Van loves to spend his time off trekking, camping, and biking - any activity that allows him to immerse in nature. He is also passionate about nomad life.
Brief History
“I am an IT graduate from the University of Cebu. Before IT, I was actually a shiftee from two courses - Electronics and Communication Engineering and Marine Nautical. When I was almost done with Marine Nautical, I decided to take IT. It made me curious, so I decided to shift. That’s where I learned not just website development but also how to make mobile apps.”
Why Mobile Development
“I became a mobile developer because I’m amazed by how it made life easier for people, every day we use and launch several apps on our phones. I taught myself React Native and Flutter. My first mobile app project was my thesis. It’s a startup called SugoPH where customers can post a request for a service and then runners will do it for them. We thought it would be helpful for people who don’t have time to do their errands.
My teammates and I launched this in a startup accelerator program called Beehive. During a design sprint, I met Albert Padin, our CTO. He asked me if there was an MVP of SugoPH, so my friends pushed me to showcase it and I demoed the app to Albert. He was amazed and gave me the opportunity to work in Symph!”
Why Symph, Van?
“I heard about Symph from a Google Developers Group event and I decided to do my internship there. I was drawn to Symph’s culture and I was glad they made the interns feel welcome. My internship lasted for 4 months, I got to work on both web application and mobile app projects then. Because of my opportunity to showcase SugoPH in Beehive, I’m now a part of Symph’s team! I now work here as a full-stack developer and mobile developer."
What is your advice for people who want to do mobile development?
"1. You can learn on your own, especially with the enormous resources we have online.
2. Immerse yourself in tech communities since this will expose you to opportunities."
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