As a schoolboy, third-grader Ilkhomjon Sidikov gave presentations for teachers: at an open lesson for high school students, he sat at the computer, bringing smiles to everyone's faces. His plans to study abroad were thwarted by the pandemic and lockdown, and Ilkhomjon decided to choose the University of Central Asia (UCA) and received a grant in Computer Science. Today, Ilkhomjon Sidikov is a software engineer at the unicorn startup io.net, where he joined two years ago as one of the first IT specialists. “Yes, the winters are cold, but the university makes up for it: strong faculty, a high academic standard, an international environment, and incredible people. We were the fifth class to graduate in the university's history. Thanks to the comprehensive Computer Science programme, we covered everything: software development, AI, mobile development, robotics, and much more,” he explained.