Hello! I’m Sydney and I live in Vancouver, BC.
We are going to start with a game! As a recovering game-grinch, I understand if you’re rolling your eyes right now. I’ve been listening to an audiobook that suggests we all benefit from playing games, so in the spirit of our instructor’s ice-breaker game, I will share 3 truths and a lie. Here goes…
Three of these are true and one is a lie:
1. I was in a Nintendo commercial.
2. I have a dog named Pepper.
3. I once dined with Martin Fowler.
4. I was a wildland firefighter.
Now you have to guess which is the lie.
Did you guess? Great! I will introduce myself and then I’ll share the answer at the end of this post.
Why π? I have three good reasons. First, I love baking and making pie is a meditative activity that helps me relax. The second reason is that my birthday is on Pi Day. Finally, and most importantly, celebrating pi is a way to remind myself that I’m good at math. I need to remind myself, because after years of telling myself I wasn’t good at math, even writing the statement “I’m good at math” makes me cringe a little. Since returning to school, I have taken four calculus classes, two statistics classes, and one linear algebra course and I’ve done well in all of them. So, it’s probably safe to say that I’m good at math.
My interest in computers snuck up on me over many years. As an administrative assistant, I wanted to be more accurate with my data entry, so I started learning database queries to check my work. Then colleagues began asking me for custom reports. Then I thought some of my repetitive tasks might benefit from macros and macros lead to full-on VBA task automation. Eventually, I realized I was happier coding than I was answering the phone. I wanted to work with data, so I completed a code bootcamp and then went on to an internship where I realized I needed a better foundation in math and computer science to reach my goals.
I chose OSU because I grew up in Corvallis and I was hoping it would give me more excuse to visit family there. It turned out to be a great time to work toward an online degree (and not such a great time to visit family). My goal is to become a data scientist or data engineer, and these days, I am leaning more toward data engineering.
Okay, let’s finish up the game! Here are the answers:
I was in a Nintendo commercial.
True. Sort of. I played “Mom” in a commercial for Super Mario Kart, but I don’t think it ever aired on TV. (My previous degree was in theater arts.)
I have a dog named Pepper.
Nope. I do like dogs, but I have two cats: Beckett and Kettle. Expect to see them frequently on this blog.
I once dined with Martin Fowler.
True. At the time, I didn’t know much about Agile methodology, so I didn’t glean any special insights, but he was a very gracious person and he seemed to enjoy the cheese.
I’ve worked as a wildland firefighter.
True. I worked one summer as a firefighter in my early twenties. It was back-breaking, exciting work where I learned a lot of colorful language and some important life lessons. For instance, it is possible to walk another five miles when your feet are covered in broken blisters. And when you are tired enough, you can sleep anywhere.
