The story behind Marcelo Cesar - Africa to Harvard

Dear Friends, Supporters, and Compassionate Individuals,

My name is Marcelo Cesar, from Cape Verde, Africa. I'm 20 years old and I'm a self-taught computer science student. I created this account with the hope that I'd get enough money to pursue my bachelor's degree in computer science in the U.S. By the way, the picture you saw above it's me with Dr. David J. Malan, a computer scientist, and Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University.

My Journey started at the age of 10 when my dad gave me my first computer, 1GB of RAM. I got in touch with FTP Server, I basically wanted to install premium software on my computer for free. I'm so curious. There came a time when I felt I could build my own software to help students learn how to learn, take out the fear of learning math/science, and recall what they've learned. I kept having those thoughts in my mind. One weekend I watched The Social Network movie - How Mark Zuckerberg Founded Facebook, that movie got me so inspired even today, Zuck is the Number 1 I look up to. I started dreaming over and over again that I would go to the United States, get into a university, launch my software on campus, move to Silicon Valley, and turn it into a billion-dollar brand.

Meanwhile, I was suffering from bullying almost everywhere I went, getting rejected and being treated unequally even inside my family because my parents are poor financially and didn't have stable job, the salary is just to keep the food on the table. That was killing me slowly, I had no friends, just me alone. I started learning web development, it was there that moment that I saw an opportunity that learning software development would allow me to get to my goals. I built my portfolio with HTML CSS JavaScript. I was so excited to the point that I was telling people around me about my dreams, guess what? No one supported me or even said "Hey Marcelo you got this". Instead, they filled my mind with negative feedback to the point that I got so negative that the only thing that was keeping me breathing was coding and my dreams. I couldn't even breathe normally, that was interfering throughout my high school and getting low grades. I failed 10th grade, I still remember myself crying in the shower. I made the best decision ever, I told my mom I wanted to go to another public high school with better students. I learned a big lesson, everyone sees the world differently and no one can help me but myself. I realized the problem was my environment and in my country, I had no one to look up to, it looks like no one had ever threaded this path before. I locked myself in my room, studying and working every single day, teaching myself software engineering, math, and personal development.

From 11th grade, my grades started to go up, while in Mathematics class I was drawing on my notepad about creating my virtual company. It was then that I created my virtual company MarcTech CV, reselling products from Aliexpress, and building websites. I landed my first job at the age of 16 as a mobile developer(Mitel Lda). Now I can help my mom with the little I was earning. After 1 year and a half, I completed the project. I was in 12th grade when an international company(Devnology) based in Brazil reached out, we kept in touch, and on June 6 I finished my final exams, and on June 7 I was officially hired as a Software Engineer, working on a huge financial system, creating new submodules, implementing new features and later on they transferred me to work on a mobile app with over 5M downloads. I learned a lot about dealing with clients, taking notes, managing a team using agile methodologies(scrum), and structuring your project to support a large number of users and allow multiple developers to work on the same source of code.

After graduating on July 1st, 2022, from high school, I kept trying to find a way to study in the U.S. I tried it at the U.S. Embassy, with my family. At that point I was in contact with Bridgewater State University and everything I needed was someone to be my sponsor and show a bank statement with the amount of at least $40,600. They won't spend any money because I will work at the university to pay my bills but I couldn't find anyone. I went asking for help from the Governor of Cape Verde and they sent me to the President of the biggest company in my country. I went to the meeting with the CEO and guess what he told me, I still remember clearly the conversation. He said: "Nowadays it's easy to land a job, just go online/LinkedIn. I wonder if there are no other Marcelos out there". I felt disrespected because he didn't understand the difficult challenges I had faced and the determination it took for me to be there with him. After insisting, he told me that he'd give me an opportunity to study in the USA, they have partnerships with some universities in the U.S. but I have to pass a challenge to test myself and work for them for 1 year before I go and then work 2 years for them after graduating. If I refuse to work for them after graduating I have to pay the full amount spent on my studies. I've waited for more than 3 months, so anxious, sending multiple messages to him, barely sleeping at night, thinking about it, and then after 4 months he told me he could not do it. That was so painful, I locked myself in my room. I didn't mention it but I said no to parties, friends, no girlfriend. I was 18 years old and in 1 year I was speaking English better than my official language(Portuguese), I taught myself.

One day, I had the opportunity to connect with Antonio DePina, the CEO of Overseas Connection App Inc. Despite his base in Miami, USA, he was in Cape Verde, my home country. During our meeting, he shared his mobile app and mentioned the need for improvements. In a remarkable challenge, he tasked me with creating the entire app from scratch and bringing it to publication. When he asked how much I would charge for this significant undertaking, my response was simple: I didn't want money; I wanted a visa to the USA.

While still maintaining a full-time position with my company in Brazil, I committed every available moment outside of work to building his app. This included working while wearing a suit through the holiday season, even forgoing cherished family time. In just two months, I successfully completed and published the app.

In April, I made the life-changing decision to resign from my job in Brazil. On June 23, 2023, Antonio DePina brought me to the USA, and together, we embarked on an adventure through five vibrant cities: New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Initially, the plan was to stay for two weeks, but when the opportunity arose, I decided to visit my family in Boston, and I ended up staying longer.

During my travels, I identified numerous opportunities and challenges. I firmly believe that people will embrace and purchase my product once I create it. I began pitching my ideas at church gatherings and business events, actively collecting feedback from my target audience and adjusting the product accordingly. My project merges event management and a dating app, and I'm on course to launch it in the United States next year. Currently, I'm hard at work building the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

One of my dreams came true when I attended lectures at Harvard University and had the privilege of meeting Dr. David J. Malan. This journey has been remarkable, and I'm eager to continue making strides toward achieving my goals.

Every day, I receive messages from students worldwide, expressing how I inspire them. While I'm grateful for this, my primary goal is to pursue my computer science studies in the U.S. My plan is to start at a community college, excel in liberal arts for two years, and then transfer to a full-fledged university. This path will enable me to launch my product and secure internships with major tech companies. Google even reached out to me once, but without university enrollment, I lack the necessary work permission. I've researched various Community Colleges, such as Bunker Hill Community College and Massachusetts Bay Community College. The average cost of attending these institutions for two years, including living expenses, totals $75,000.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and support me. I'm genuinely grateful and appreciate the strength I've gained from the challenging moments in my life. May God bless you for your kindness and support.

As I don’t have USA SSN, I can’t set up my bank account, Sandino Dos Santos my cousin will be receiving funds and sending it to me. Thank you for you support!