introductions

how did i get here

When I was working in the wildlife management field I was applying for jobs and moving to a new small town in the middle of nowhere every 6 months. While I truly did love getting paid to hike through the woods all day, I realized that it didn’t give me the lifestyle that I wanted. I decided to find a remote career that would give me the freedom to live and travel anywhere I want. In college I minored in computer science (just for fun) so I though, hey, let’s look at that computer thing again. Now I’m just a few months away from finishing my B.S. in Computer Science at Oregon State University.

where am i going

People often ask me “what are you going to do when you graduate?”. My honest answer… hopefully find someone who will pay me to do something I’m good at. I’m coming into this with no work experience in this field. I’ve certainly learned a massive amount through school, and I have the grades to prove it, but I feel like there is still so much to learn. I’ve narrowed down my interests a bit throughout my education. I’m interested most in backend, data science, AI, machine learning, etc.. And I’ve learned that I have less interest in UX, web development, or anything front end. A long term goal of mine is to combine my computer science and wildlife ecology degree and work in conservation.

closing notes

In this blog I’ll be documenting my journey through the OSU CS 467 Capstone course where I’ll be working in a team throughout the entire development process on a not yet decided project. But I’ll also be talking about life in general, how it feels to be graduating and entering the workforce, and managing that oh so scary and seemingly ever present Imposter Syndrome. The blog is titled An Imposter’s Guide to Programming after all. So for anyone out there who might be in the same boat as me, hopefully this can be a place where we can connect with, support, and learn from each other.