WordPress Engineer Orestis Samaras
What I really like about what I do and what motivates me, is the power I have to make people’s lives easier through clean interfaces and quality software code!
In this article, we want to introduce Orestis Samaras. He studied Computer Software Engineering, has a great passion for WordPress, and supports the Inpsyde Team as WordPress Engineer since July 2020.
This is Orestis Samaras
Orestis is 28 years old and lives in Thessaloniki, Greece.
How would you describe yourself?
I would say that I’m passionate, hard-working and curious. I strongly believe that learning something new not only expands your knowledge but also your horizon and allows you to gain a more comprehensive understanding of things.
What I really like about what I do and what motivates me is the power I have to make people’s lives easier through clean interfaces and quality software code! I always try to be a better person and help others. But above all, the most important thing for me are my family and close friends!
How do you spend your spare time?
I really love traveling! You get to know a lot of different people with different perspectives and cultures. That broadens my horizons. One thing I really want to do someday is to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway. There are so many places to see and the route crosses so many countries. But it’s a really long journey and that also scares me a bit.
When the time is limited though, I would either relax with friends having a coffee, a beer or some good wine or read something about web technologies. I like to educate myself further and get deeper into topics. It’s a process that makes me a better programmer. And I can see how I have improved … especially when I have a look at code that I wrote some time before.
Orestis’s way to Inpsyde
While growing up I had a passion for airplanes and aviation in general, so at some point, I started doing some flight simulation, e. g. commercial and cargo routes, preferably European and Asian destinations. But I also did a few flights to South America where there are a few extremely hard to handle airports (mountainous areas, etc.). My first flights were in smaller single-engine aircrafts (like Cessna 172) and until I reached a point where I could control the aircraft and navigate with confidence, I flew offline on my own (without any air traffic control or other aircraft traffic around me) just practicing maneuvers and checking the aircraft’s and my capabilities.
Some day, I decided to create a virtual airline: an online community whose members do flight simulations while following a real airline’s procedures. And that virtual airline needed a website. At first, it was an ugly HTML-only site but later enhanced it with a few things. And that was my starting point with PHP, databases, and web in general.
Later, I pursued a career as a software engineer. After completing my studies in Computer Software Engineering, I worked for various agencies, building websites, eCommerce sites and custom platforms. Recently, I was introduced to the software testing realm and since I realized in practice the extremely positive effect it has on delivering better code, I want to learn even more about and integrate it into my daily routine.
I love WordPress ‒ both as a platform and the idea behind it ‒ and Inpsyde as a company that uses WordPress to its very core and helps to extend it while offering something back to the WordPress community was very appealing to me. Moreover, remote working was something I was looking for since I believe that being able to organize my time in my way and being able to work from different places boosts my productivity. I like the fact that I am able to make an ‒ hopefully positive ‒ impact by helping with further development of products used by thousands or even millions of users. I’m definitely looking forward to learning new things and expanding my skill set.
Questions to Inpsyder Orestis
We asked Orestis a few personal questions to learn more about him:
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Pink panther.
Which job did you do when you were in school?
I studied, I suppose.
What is your midnight snack?
I try to avoid it! But when I can’t it’s most probably Pizza or Souvlaki!
What was the last book you read?
The Package by Sebastian Fitzek.
What is the best present you ever got?
A trip to Switzerland.
If you had a superpower, what would that be?
I would love to have two: Being invisible and having the ability to stop time.
Do you have a favorite karaoke song?
I bet you don’t want to hear me sing.
What is your favorite movie?
The Invisible Guest.
Describe your ideal weekend.
Wake up not too early and not too late. Stay in bed for a bit. Prepare a nice breakfast with some coffee and enjoy it on the sunny balcony. Later, I would love to go on an excursion with my girlfriend or friends to a nice place I ‘ve never had the chance to go before. Some late-night reading would be a great way to conclude the day.
What was your first reaction when you were given a firm offer by Inpsyde?
I’ve texted my girlfriend and my brother!
What is on your bucket list?
A huge amount of things. To name a few, I would love to learn Spanish, fly with a hot air balloon, do scuba diving, travel to the most distant places of the earth … the list goes on and on.
What did you want to be when you were a child? Would you still?
I wanted to be an airliner pilot. Nowadays I still want that, but as a private one.
You get stuck in the elevator for many hours and there’s a song playing in a continuous loop, what song would that be?
If I get to notice that it’s looping over and over again, I ‘m gonna hate it either way, so …
What is the best part of your personality?
You would have to meet me and decide for yourself!
What do you like most about your city?
Having the ability to get off the house and walk by the sea or go hiking in a few minutes.
What are you really good at?
I’m a great listener!
About what would your friends say “that’s typical you”?
I’ll have to ask.
Which of your favorite TV shows is not on the air anymore?
Friends.
What is the best meal you can cook on your own?
Risotto con pollo (Risotto with chicken).
What would be the slogan of your life?
Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t accomplish something.
Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man?
Batman.
By the way: The Syde Team is 100% remote
This enables us to bring together the best minds in the world in one team. You want to learn more about our way of working and the Syders? Take a look inside Syde!