Hello person of the internet, I am Nicolas Solioz. 

If you're on this page it's probably because A) you're a person interested in my profile or B) you're a teacher who must give me a grade (in that case, a 6 would be nice). 

Let me introduce myself. Who is "Nicolas Solioz" ? 

This question sounds simple. Indeed, I could tell you that I've worked as a mediamatician for Swisscom for 4 years, that I've studied retail, economics, marketing & computer science. 

I could tell you I'm currently studying, part-time, Data Computing at the HES-So in Sierre, Switzerland. To pay for my studies & not sleep under a steel bridge, I'm working as a "Surveillance Coordinator" for a large retail firm in my canton. My job consists of developing, adapting & executing new strategies that will reduce theft for the 25+ retail points of the company. 

I could tell you many things about my professional background, about my studies, about my hobbies. I could basically feed you the same boring Curriculum Vitae that HR Counselors read 1'000 times a day. 

I could. 

But I won't. 

 Indeed, it's my belief that the amount of degrees hanging in someone's office measures nothing except perhaps the amount of his student debt. Oops, I forgot. Such a thing does not exist in Switzerland. 

Seriously though, the only way you'll truly know who I am is if I tell you what I've accomplished so far, what I do on a regular basis currently & what I want to do in the future. 

So please, grab a cup of coffee (or tea if you don't condone caffeine, I don't judge) and let us embark together on this small journey through "Nicotopia". You're in for a bumpy ride.

Ok I admit, I'm pretty young by earthling standards (unless you're reading this in 2063, in which case I'm glad the world hasn't fallen yet at the hands of the Illuminati Shadowmasters) so I haven't really had time to accomplish anything. Then again, Mozart wrote a Symphony when he was a child, Bill Gates founded Microsoft at 20 & Jane Austen wrote "Pride & Prejudice"  also at 20... But they are exceptions... right ?

Great. Now I'm having an existential crisis. If you'll please excuse me, I need to go post a selfie on Facebook to obtain validation. 

***

Thanks for the wait. Where was I ? Oh yeah, what have I accomplished ? Let me highlight 2 aspects of my life that make me really proud (sounds like a click-bait blog-post) using the business world's favorite tool : 

THE BULLET LIST !

2 things I'm proud of :

1. Evosun, my mediamatician diploma project
   A little context here. At the end of my 4 year apprentiship with Swisscom, every single mediamatician had to lead a project and develop something useful for the company. I chose to create a intranet module that measured Swisscom's solar production & showed it in shiny colors on a screen. 
   To do this, I had to use all kinds of programming languages & obscure electric interfaces that at the time I had no idea how to use. However, I was confident I could make it.
   Did I mention I only had 2 weeks to finish the whole project ? Yeah. I may be a little optimistic at times. 
   
   I presented my idea to the experts that would be following my project. They told me "Dude, you insane or what ?". Well, maybe not in those exact words, but you get the gist of the exchange. After a little convincing on my part they however let me charge head-first into this project. 
   
   Yup, the first week was hell. Nothing was working, many unforeseen problems showed up and I was nowhere near the end of my project. I was beginning to think I was in over my head. The stress of the deadline & the complexity brought me close to a complete mental breakdown. 
   
   Close, but no cigar. 
   
   I managed to hold on to my motivation. To post on forums, to ask different colleagues for help. I didn't give up & was rewarded with the answers to my problems. The last day of these 2 weeks, I got my project working, printed out the "thesis" documents & sent them to the experts for evaluation. 
   
   About 2 months after sending the documents, I met with the experts & presented them my project. The presentation... went well. It actually went more than well, it went great ! 
   
   That year, my project was the top grade. But more importantly, I learned something that I will never forget : Hard-work & dedication are the only answers to stress & hesitation (hey, it rhymes !). 
   
   
2. Fluffy Machine, my punk band
   Sometimes I get the feeling I'm Bruce Wayne, but without the money, the cool suit, the martial art skills... wait... this may be a bad metaphor. 
   Let's start over. 
   Sometimes I get the feeling I live two lives : my day life & my night life. 
   Let me illustrate this by telling you a story : 
   
   With my punk band, Fluffy Machine (I play bass), we had a concert in Bern on a Saturday. So we pack our gear and head out to the gig location. It was actually a birthday party organized by 2 punk-chicks. We arrive at the location : It's an abandonned house next to a river, people with red mowhawks & patch-jackets are gathered in front of the building drinking beer and weird cocktails from a bucket. We unpacked our stuff, drank with them, played bizarre games on a tree stump, danced to Irish music, ate raw eggplant (why not ?) and went to sleep in the trunk of our respectful cars at 5 AM. 
   That day, I met some of the most genuine & amazing people ever.
   
   Two days after that amazing night, I was in a job-meeting discussing inventory losses. Don't get me wrong, I love analyzing situations & trying to figure out ways to solve problems... But I have to admit the contrast between my weekends and weekdays sometimes seem bizarre. 
   
   And I love it. 
   
   I'm so happy I get to live in both worlds. I'm so proud I get to go out & meet new exciting people. Playing in a band has turned out to be the most fulfilling thing I've ever done. 

Ok before I illustrate my typical week, let me get this out of the way : I hate routine. Doing the same thing at the same time every day, week & month sounds like hell to me. 

Still, because I have a job, studies & band, my weeks tend to sometimes have some similarities, but keep in mind this is not a regular thing. 

Monday

06:00 - 08:00 : I wake up. My job let's me start work when I want and I admit having difficulty getting up at a specific time. Sometimes I'm eager to head to the office, sometimes I hit the snooze button 57 times (a terrible habit, don't judge me).
08:00 - 12:00 : Monday mornings usually call for coffee. A double dose that I hold in the fish mug my grandpa bought for me (the fish mug is my mug with fishes on it, don't get any crazy ideas). I pour myself a coffee at the office & get to work. I catch up things with my colleagues, take care of my mail etc.
12:00 - 13:00 : Lunch.
13:00 - 17:30 : Work. 
18:00 - 19:00 : Home, I usually spend the time watching Youtube videos. 
19:00 - 20:00 : Dinner
20:00 - 23:00 : Depends, sometimes I'm with the singer of my band recording new songs or brainstorming ideas, sometimes I'm watching a series, sometimes I'm playing guitar and composing, sometimes I'm reading, sometimes I'm learning something new... it depends, really. 

Tuesday

Tuesday is like Monday, without the intense desire to commit suicide & murder every single human being in sight. What I do at work changes depending on the theft cases I'm working on & since I work on projects no two days are the same. 

17:00 : after work, I drive 100 miles to Lausanne to spend the evening with my girlfriend, who studies economics. We cook dinner together, talk endlessly about interesting & dumb things (mostly dumb things I admit). I sleep at her place but usually end up sleeping in another room, because my snoring is really loud. Fun fact : I was sleeping in a Congolese jungle a couple of years ago and my snores scared away an angry gorilla who was about to attack our tent (That actually never happened, but I guarantee my snores would scare any animal away). 

T.M.I ?

Wednesday

 I make the drive back from Lausanne & head in to the office where I work until 17:00. 

17:00 : I drive home & spend the evening with my family. Usually, we watch movies & talk about our week so far. Sometimes we have a drink outside if the weather allows it. Since I don't work on Thursdays, Wednesday is my Friday. I usually stay up late reading or watching series (have you seen Westworld ? Best series in a long time). 

Thursday

 10:00 I usually get up around 10. Since I have school at 17:00, I check what we've done last lesson & prepare the next. This involves doing computer exercices, programming, sorting my notes etc. 
17:00 - 20:15 : Class
20:45 - 22:00 : Band practice with Fluffy Machine

Friday

07:00 : Wake up
07:06 : Grab a brush and put on a little makeup
07:14 : Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
07:25 : Why did I leave the keys up on the table ?

... 

If you don't listen to System Of A Down : A) you didn't understand the reference and B) shame on you. 

Anyway, on fridays I wake up around 7 and get ready for school. At noon, I head over to my parents' restaurant where I help for the rush hour. After that I head back to school until 6:00. 

6:00 - 8:35 : While waiting for my girlfriend to come over, I usually see my friends & catch up about their week. 
08:35 - 23:00 : I spend the evening with my girlfriend. What we really like to do is eat pizza & go to the movies (hmmm... I really want pizza now). But sometimes we don't really do anything except talk. 

Saturday

07:00 - 08:00 : Wake up
08:00 - 12:00 : School
12:00 - 13:00 : Lunch
14:00 - 04:00 : Something happens. It's never ever the same thing. I go to weddings, birthday parties, concerts, shows, family reunions & all sorts of random events. Random events are the best. 

Sunday

xx:00 : Wake up. 
xx:00 - 15:00 : Regret the poor choices I've made the previous night
15:00 - 17:00 : Band practice with Fluffy Machine
17:00 - 20:00 : Chilling with girlfriend
20:00 - 23:00 : After such an intense week, Sunday evening I usually do nothing but listen to music / watch series. 

I don't know what I want. There. I've said it. 

I have absolutely no idea what my perfect life would be. Sometimes I like to imagine I'm a touring musician, sometimes I'm a project leader, sometimes I live in a foreign country & write blog posts... my dreams change all the time. It's very frustrating. After all, if I knew what I wanted I could work towards that goal... In the mean time, I'm wasting my time doing things that are maybe not bringing me closer to my undiscovered dreams. 

Oh no.

I feel another existential crisis coming.

...

Nope, false alarm. 

In reality I want to do so many things. I want to travel, to play concerts in lots of weird and new places, to meet people, to learn new things. I can't tell you exactly what I want yet. My only wish is that if I continue putting myself out there I may one day have an epiphany. When my dream life will look at me in the eye & say "let's go" I hope I'll be wise & brave enough to say "ok".