Wow, my first post! It seems not just fitting to leave the title as the default, but almost necessary. I can’t remember exactly where I read this, but I’d never dream of displeasing the gods by not having my first anything in CS start with “Hello world!”.
A little bit about me. My name is Hunter (they/them, hence the blog’s title 😏). Originally from Western Colorado, I moved to Oregon as a teen, got my Associate’s of Science at Mt. Hood Community College, and am working on my Bachelor’s of Science at OSU all the way from upstate New York.
Originally, I wanted to be a doctor. I spent most of my adult life working in the medical field in preparation for this. However, at one point I realized the thing I loved most about my work: seeing how people interact with technology. A well-designed program could make a job 100x easier, and a poorly-designed one often caused more headaches than it solved.
I suppose this should’ve made sense. I spent a lot of time with my grandma as a little kid, who taught Business Computing at a high school. At the end of every school year I would help her tear down her classroom: disconnect computers, wipe hard drives, etc. Then, at the end of summer, we’d put it all back together again. I learned a lot about computer hardware, basic OS functions, and various programs, before I could even read. Computers have been a big part of my life, and over the course of this degree path I have developed an even deeper appreciation (and, dare I say, love) for them.
My journey in Computer Science has had a lot of ups and downs. Pivoting from healthcare to CS was difficult to say the least, and, couple that with working full-time and trying my best to have some semblance of a social life, there’s been a large adjustment curve. However, here I am at the start of my senior year, having accomplished some things that would’ve seemed downright magical at the beginning of my education. I’m really looking forward to this projects series! I see this as an opportunity to push myself to learn new technologies, to showcase the skills I have acquired over the past 2 years, and to produce something I can truly be proud of.
I currently work as a helpdesk technician in an agency that provides residential and community services to people with developmental disabilities, which has been an eye-opening experience. In my (increasingly sparse) free time, I love playing video games, watching movies and TV with my spouse, exploring the area around us (we’ve been on some really beautiful hikes), and trying to teach myself game dev as a hobby.
Here, where the world is quiet;
Here, where all trouble seems
Dead winds’ and spent waves’ riot
In doubtful dreams of dreams;
I watch the green field growing
For reaping folk and sowing,
For harvest-time and mowing,
A sleepy world of streams.
–The Garden of Proserpine, Algernon Charles Swinburne
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45288/the-garden-of-proserpine