Hi there! My name is Josh. I live in Florida, just outside of the Tampa area. I’ve lived in a few different places, including about 3 years in Louisville KY, and 6 years in and around Portland OR. My original degree was in Finance, and I worked in consulting for about ten years before deciding to go back to school for computer science. This is my last term in the post-bacc program! While I have enjoyed the journey, I very much look forward to being done!
A little more about me…
What got you started with computers or software?
I took a programming course in high school as part of a virtual school program. If I remember correctly, I think it was in basic. During degree 1.0, I did a summer engineering program that required programming a robotic arm, and I think that was called qbasic. I also took a course in VBA during my original degree. I dabbled in using VBA for Excel, but programming (the way most people in this program would define it) was never been a large part of my job before this program.
Current job or internship?
I work as an Actuary at an insurance company. I started with this company four months ago, and it has been a big change for me. The work I did before was completely different, and in a different area of practice. I would describe my current responsibilities as data-focused. I work with a team of analysts in the Accounting department, working mostly with the data for premiums and claims.
Your future career
When I originally started this program in 2021, my goal was to switch to an insurance company. There was a period of time where I thought I was typecast, such that it seemed my options were to be a ‘pension’ actuary, or switch to something else completely. I landed an internship in a tech consulting group, and thought for sure I was going in the direction of data engineering. The company issued a hiring freeze at the end of the internship, and did not give return offers to the interns in my group. Within a month of my internship ending, I was interviewing for my current position. Of the skills I have developed, working with SQL, Snowflake, and Power BI, the skills I picked up during my internship, were instrumental in landing the position. The company is currently implementing a data warehouse, and part of my responsibilities are to review the premium and claims data as part of that integration.
Favorite technologies
I thoroughly enjoy Python and SQL. I look forward to digging into Azure Synapse, and seeing what I’ll be able to do with it. I have also had a lot of fun using LLMs, and I am excited to see them evolve over the next few years.
Kids, pets, hobbies, sports, games, activities, etc.
I have two sons; one is almost four, and the other is almost one. I also have two dogs, a terrier mix and a Weimaraner. The Weim is not a dog…or maybe, she’s like the velociraptor of dogs. Right now, I am working full-time, commuting about 400 miles a week, have a wife, two kids, and I am enrolled in capstone and cloud so that I can finish this term. Who needs hobbies? Ok…I was playing Starfield, but that’s going to have to sit until Fall is over.
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