I Refuse To Be A Victim

The visa officer skimmed my documents and slid them back across the glass. Denied.

I’d prepared for months. I’d even rented a home in Indonesia a full year in advance to prove my base was there—not in Libya—and to show commitment and stability. I brought contracts, itineraries, bank statements. None of it seemed to matter. I left the consulate with a familiar feeling: confusion, frustration, and the sense that my case hadn’t been taken seriously.

I don’t control borders. I control what I do next.

Where the switch flipped

As a kid, I loved games—more than I loved Marvel movies. My favorite? Spider-Man! The scenes of NY Times Square are etched in my brain. That is a place I want to be. I loved video games a lot, but I knew if I wanted to be in the US, I had to be serious. I stopped playing and poured those hours into studying. Reps, not hacks. I learned that if I keep showing up every day, even in small ways, momentum compounds. That discipline, more than any single break, has carried me.

Ambition is a checkpoint, not a destination

I used to think success was a single win: a big-name job, a visa stamp, an acceptance email. Over time I stopped treating ambition like a finish line and started treating it like checkpoints. Nail the next rep. Learn the next concept. Ship the next feature. Repeat.

I joined Manara to sharpen my fundamentals and interview skills. Had my first interview at Google Poland office in 2021. I failed the interview due to skill issues. That stung.

The work that matters

I’m proud of the work I contributed to OCP: changing how equity is managed so more founders it’s the tech that was eventually used at Fairmint, that mission was real: make equity easier to issue, manage, and use. My job was simple: ship.

I measure myself by output:

Did we reduce manual steps and human errors?
Did we collapse customer bug to production-fix time?
Did users gain clarity instead of confusion?

That’s the scoreboard I trust and hold myself accountable.

Building where doors are actually open

Along the way, I helped port the Open Cap Table Protocol OCP to Solana. That work drew interest from the Solana Foundation. More importantly, it reminded me of a truth I keep coming back to: code is permissionless. You can reject my US visa. You can freeze my Deel account. You can’t stop me from writing software that works.

When one platform or policy closes a door, I look for the rooms where merit still speaks the loudest open source.

That’s where I invest attention.

When labels try to lead the story

I’ve lost opportunities because of a passport—opportunities I worked hard to earn. Compliance reviews. Payment platforms. Vague emails with “internal policy” in the subject line. In those moments, it’s easy to spiral: why me, why this, why now?

I give myself a short window to feel it. Then I ask two questions:

What can I control?
What can I build that no one can ignore?
How can I be in service to people?

Usually the answers look like this:

Improve docs and tests so my work is easier to adopt.
Publish a demo that speaks for itself.
Unblock a friend or teammate.
Simplify & reduce complexity.

Not dramatic. Just deliberate.

The setback I won’t let define me

My passport will likely be a friction point for a while. I’ve had payments reversed and contracts ended for reasons that had nothing to do with performance. I was frustrated. And I’m still grateful—because I have a skill that lets me contribute without asking for permission first.

If one door closes, I don’t camp outside. I map the next route.

Agency over narrative

I can’t control policies, but I can control my attention. I can decide what I practice, what I publish, and whom I help. That’s not motivational fluff; it’s operational. Attention is the most valuable thing I own, and I invest it where it compounds: learning, shipping, teaching.

Here’s how that looks day to day:

Reps: short, focused work blocks that move the needle forward.
Proof: code, tests, and changelogs—things others can run, not just read.
Service: help a founder or friend remove uncertainty or solve problems in their tech. Pay it forward.

I represent myself

I’m not a flag. I’m not a statistic. I represent myself and the work I stand behind. I care about inovation. I care about building tech that outlast me. And I care about being useful to people who are trying to build something honest.

The choice I make very time

I choose the narrative. I control my life. Not my passport. Not a government. Me.

The work continues tomorrow. Same reps. Clearer focus. Better service.

Three takeaways

Agency over labels. You can’t pick your passport, but you can pick your response—habits, output, integrity.
Progress through adaptation. When a door shuts, stop arguing with the door. Design a path around it.
Value beyond status. The scoreboard is the outcomes you create, not the logos you collect.