Building My Portfolio from Scratch

Why I Built This Site

After years working in medical imaging and transitioning into software development, I needed a space to showcase my work, share what I’m learning, and present myself professionally.

Tools and Technologies

I wanted the tech behind the site to reflect what I'm interested in and what I’d like to work with in industry. I chose:

• Next.js 14 (App Router) for a modern, full-stack React framework
• Tailwind CSS for fast and consistent styling
• TypeScript for safer code
• Markdown for writing blog content
• Formspree for a no-backend contact form
• GitHub + Vercel for version control and easy deployment
• FAST API + Render for easy back-end deployment

What I Learned

This was a nice crash course in real-world web development. I learned how to:

• Set up and structure a scalable React-based app
• Use dark mode as a default theme (goodbye blinding white)
• Build dynamic routes for blog posts and project detail pages
• Write components that are accessible, responsive, and maintainable
• Optimize the developer experience using WebStorm and Git workflows

What’s Next

I’m continuing to build out project detail pages and will soon embed a live demo of a movie recommendation system powered by Python and FastAPI.

If you’re curious about anything on this site, or want to connect, feel free to reach out.

Thanks for reading!