Why Programming?

At the start of 2019, I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a software developer. In Thinkful’s Software Engineering Immersion program, I spent 70 hours per week for five months building dynamic, scalable web applications using JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, React, Node, and PostgreSQL.

I have always been fascinated by human interaction with technology, and my tech savvy emerged at a young age. At age 11, I started building computers and soon after began dabbling in game development using GameMaker Studio.

As a research assistant in college, I discovered a passion for statistics and and I was exposed to R. I also worked on a smoking cessation app. This experience further motivated me to pursue programming in some capacity and allowed me to see how my passion for psychology could interface with technology.

Outside of programming, my primary passions are music and nature. Having grown up in Portland, OR, hiking, backpacking, skiing, and rock climbing are very important to me. Furthermore, I am a classically trained cellist with 20 years of experience playing with symphonies, chamber music groups, rock bands, producers, and so on. I believe the intersection of music and technology is extremely powerful, and it is a great dream of mine to someday work for a music-focused tech company like Spotify.