hi, i'm nina sarabia.
i'm a shutterbug, pixel pusher, and night owl with an arsenal of random trivia.
Vancouver-based Software Engineer
Following my college graduation, I turned in perennial Northwest rain for golden state sunshine, left much of my heart in Vancouver and moved to LA in pursuit of a new adventure. With a strong drive and eagerness to grow, I quickly moved up from a junior position to then lead developer at Manufactur, a boutique creative agency in the heart of the Old Bank District in DTLA. An educational background in design, interest in photography and film production provided me a range of skills that allowed me to extend my mark on various projects outside of just development. After two years in LA, I was ready to move back to the Pacific Northwest, so I headed up the coast and settled down in Seattle.
I'm the kind of person that can rewatch my favorite movies on a weekly basis, the one that isn't afraid to jam out in the car, and probably even the one that's asking to turn up the volume. I spend more time teaching myself something new than telling myself I don't know it. What I lack in stature, I make up for in endless enthusiasm. When I'm not developing and learning new technologies, I love watching interviews, playing air-guitar along to a wicked riff, and if I ever happen to get bored, I cook; Better yet, I make a mean lasagna.
Long Tangent —
Raised during the dawn of the internet, during the Friends sitcom's legendary run, and at the peak of Michael Jordan's game, I'm now a 20-something that was naturally thrown into the whirlwind of a culture bound by globalized technology and all its possiblities. Given this interest for technology, that natural immersion into pop culture, and with really just a curious head, a career in design and development seemed to be the most obvious all-encompassing route for a once starry-eyed kid.
Though born in the Philippines, my family immigrated to Canada when I was 2, then I immigrated to the US at 21 after finishing college with a Bachelor's of Applied Design from the Art Institute of Vancouver. I'm the youngest child of an engineer and a chemist, though not the first to branch away from that to pursue applied arts, with some siblings also being visual designers, homegrown musicians, and others being 3d-modellers for the gaming industry. With a family as supportive as they are, and with friends to always find reasons to laugh along with, my fortunes truly do run high.
It doesn't take much to make me smile, and really it doesn't take much for me to be excited enough to google the crap out of whatever new exciting thing I was just talking to someone about. I put a lot of care into research, whether it's as personal as my new favorite band, as intricate as a client's visual identity or as exciting as a new framework. But nothing beats that as much as having the opportunity to share all those things I've learned about, whether it's with a friend, a teammate or a client. Acknowledging the importance of lifelong learning is proudly my greatest strength; I welcome any opportunity to do so, and also as I've said, I'll jump at the chance to share whatever I do know too.