I will absolutely turn a two-hour project into a two-week project if the complicated version sounds more interesting.
About me I'm Anthony.
I'm Anthony.
Here's the longer version.
I'm a computer science student, developer, dad, and former restaurant manager from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I like building things, figuring out how things work, and occasionally making projects way more complicated than they need to be.
Mostly, I just really like making things.
Websites, little tools, side projects, random experiments — pretty much anything that starts with me wondering, "Could I build that?"
I didn't grow up planning to become a software developer. I spent most of my working life doing completely different things. I managed restaurants, worked retail and warehouses, delivered groceries, and bounced around quite a bit while trying to figure out what I actually wanted to do.
Computers were always the thing I came back to. Eventually I decided to stop treating that interest like a hobby and went back to school for computer science.
This site is where everything I'm working on gets to live together.
I don't want it to be a second résumé. I already have one of those. This is where I can show finished projects, write about what I'm learning, document things I'm building, talk about games I've played for way too long, or post something just because I thought it was interesting.
Basically, I wanted a personal website that actually felt personal.
02
Turns out the important stuff isn't on a screen.
I'm a dad and a fiancé before I'm a developer or anything else that goes on a résumé.
Becoming a dad changed the way I think about the future. It used to feel like something I'd eventually get around to figuring out. Now I have a little person growing up while I'm building that future, which makes a lot of things feel considerably more real.
I want my son to grow up seeing that it's okay to be curious, change direction, try things, be terrible at something for a while, and keep learning.
I'm still very much figuring myself out as I go, for the record.
Outside of family and code, I play way too much RuneScape, mess with computers and other tech, play games, and regularly end up learning about something completely unrelated because one question turned into twenty.
Things I keep coming back to
Software developmentRuneScapeGame developmentWeb designAIComputer hardwareRaspberry PiPersonal websitesLearning new shit
03 / Misc.
A few things that explain a lot.
Becoming a dad changed the way I think about pretty much everything.
I've managed restaurants, unloaded trucks, worked warehouses, delivered groceries, and somehow ended up writing TypeScript.
I've played RuneScape on and off for more of my life than I haven't.
I think personal websites should actually have some personality.
I have more ideas than I will ever realistically have time to build.
04
I took the scenic route.
apparently careers don't need a straight line.
I didn't start my career in tech.
I spent most of my twenties working in restaurants, including several years as a general manager. After that came retail, fulfillment, warehouses, delivery work, and a few other stops along the way.
It wasn't a traditional path into software, but I don't consider that time wasted. Managing a restaurant taught me how to solve problems while ten other things are going wrong, deal with people, make decisions, and take responsibility when something needs done.
Eventually I got tired of software being the thing I kept saying I wanted to pursue "someday." I went back to school for computer science and started taking it seriously.
Turns out I really fucking like it.
Probably should've figured that one out sooner.
05
So what am I doing now?
Finishing the degree.
I'm finishing my bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a concentration in Software Engineering at Southern New Hampshire University.
My focus now is less on simply finishing classes and more on making sure I actually understand the stuff I'm supposed to know when I graduate.
Getting better at this.
I'm building outside of class because that's where things tend to click for me. My projects range from websites and small utilities to the RuneScape POH Planner and whatever I'm experimenting with next.
I'm also making a conscious effort to finish more of what I start. Apparently having another idea is not the same thing as making progress.
Building something of my own.
I'm currently building Arnett Digital, a web development and digital services business focused on helping small businesses get more out of their presence online.
It's still early. Right now I'm working through everything that comes with turning "I should start a business" into an actual business.
06 Okay, fine.
Okay, fine.
The professional stuff.
I build primarily for the web, but I'm interested in software development well beyond websites.
Most of my work so far has involved TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, APIs, databases, and the usual collection of tools surrounding modern web development. Through school and my own projects, I've also worked with Java, Python, C++, and mobile development.
I'm still early in my software career, and there's a lot I don't know yet. That's part of what I like about it. Give me something I don't understand and I'll probably disappear down a rabbit hole until I do.
If you're here because you're thinking about hiring me, want a website, saw something I built, or have an interesting project in mind, get in touch.