From Sri Lanka to SWE

Hi there! 👋🏾

My name is Tamarsh Abeysekera and I was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Queens, NY when I was about ten years old. My parents and I were the first to leave our homeland and we settled in a basement apartment in Jamaica, Queens. We lived a humble life when we came to America and our (my) most valuable possession was the PC in that basement apartment. As an only child with parents who were each working two jobs, my go-to entertainment (and babysitter) was that PC. I played games like Counter-Strike where I learned about client and server-side commands and how to hack the game using the developer console.

I was enamored by the developer console and how I could change the game’s textures to see behind walls or manipulate the other variables about the game. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t share the same enthusiasm and pushed me off the computer towards my books. I earned my first bachelor’s is from CUNY Queens College where I completed a double degree in Political Science & Psychology while working full-time at a nearby law firm. Then, I had the opportunity to work at the Queens County DA’s office for several years where I worked on the prosecution of felony trials (Narcotics Investigations and Gang Violence & Hate Crimes Bureaus). My mentors wholeheartedly believed that I could be the Sri Lankan Harvey Specter (check out Suits, it’s a hilarious show). Accordingly, I followed their (and my parent’s) advice and attended law school. This was when it all changed and the pivot began.

I did quite well during 1L, but I quickly learned that I did not love legal research and writing legal briefs as much I loved hacking on my PC. During the school break, I visited my best friend in San Francisco who was living in a 2-bedroom apartment, with two other people, paying $6,000 in rent. One of his roommates showed me an iOS app he was working on. I admired how he built an awesome app and he showed me how I could learn the Swift programming language. I did not know exactly how I could pivot into this field yet, but I knew that the legal field was not for me.

I left law school, moved to Portland, OR (where I currently live) and learned C++ programming on the Terminal using Vim at Portland State University. I immediately fell in love with learning how to write code and building software. It brought me a similar joy I had as a kid manipulating the developer console, but in a more fulfilling manner because I was building something from nothing.

Eventually, I transferred to Oregon State University because I needed a CS program that I could complete asynchronously and found that it was the best decision for me. All the classes thus far at Oregon State have been extremely rewarding and everyone I have worked on a team with have been a pleasure to learn with. Thank you for reading!

Questions

• Why did you choose the projects you did on the survey? What makes them interesting to you?
  
  I chose the AI Coder R&D project paired with the Cross-platform Personal Trainer App because I enjoy mobile software development (Flutter), I love exercising, and I want to learn more about utilizing AI tools in my development workflow.
  
  However, I’m fairly open to building what my teammates choose to build. I enjoy building web apps and am open to learning new technologies!
  
• What type of person are you, in terms of a group dynamic?
  
  I’m a team player who can fill many roles and I’ve grown to love team work because I’ve worked with several intelligent and talented individuals at Oregon State. I enjoy creative work, writing, and leadership roles. In previous group work, I’ve led groups and coordinated effectively to successful and rewarding terms.