#1: About me

Welcome strangers, classmates, and friends to my blog. Timothy Jan is my parents-are-angry-with-me-name, but I’ve gone by “TJ” or “Teej” since I can remember. 

My interest in computers and technology began kindergarten graduation night. Little TJ, clothed in a miniature cap & gown, sat in the backseat of his mom’s Nissan Quest minivan and anxiously unwrapped his graduation present: a Gameboy color and a copy of Pokémon Blue. From that point onward, I continued to love video games and, although I likely played too much of them, I’m sure my parents (and adult me) were thankful that they kept me from getting into any real trouble while growing up. 

At some point in junior high, many of my friends started getting into PC gaming. I had already mostly transitioned away from console gaming to playing Lord of the Rings Online and various RTS games on an utterly incapable Dell home productivity model. I figured that it was about time to acquire a gaming computer of my own. Being an unemployed junior higher, however, I managed struck a deal with my dad: he’d pay for half if I saved for half and was able to justify to him each of my component choices. After many anticipation-filled mornings waiting for the UPS truck, I finally had all the components fresh from Newegg. As I later found out, my father thought building a computer would be like the summer car or motorcycle projects from his adolescence. One would spend an entire summer with friends and their fathers rebuilding a classic car. Much to his surprise, however, later that afternoon I was sitting watching Windows 7 slowly install on my brand new computer. So began a lifelong commitment to maintaining my own hardware, being my own IT support, and becoming increasingly comfortable with troubleshooting and searching the internet for solutions to technical problems.

I would eventually go on to my first round of undergraduate education where I studied Political Science and Economics. Although in the back of my mind I’d always had a love for technology and the hard sciences, I decided I wanted to work in politics and government. I graduated in 2016 and went to work at the Hawaii House of Representatives, first as a legal analyst – writing and reading legislation – and then as a Chief of Staff to a House member. But the longer I worked in politics, the less fulfilling it became and the more I came to regret not studying engineering or computer science. Long hours, low pay, and few career advancement opportunities, combined with the emerging Covid-19 pandemic, catalyzed a change. I quit my job, enrolled at Oregon State University, moved back in with my parents, and returned to school full-time. 

Since summer 2020, I’ve been a full-time student at OSU and have loved every infuriating and joyous moment of planning, writing, and debugging a project or algorithm. Running Monte Carlo simulations in Parallel Programming, creating a bespoke website for my dad’s small business in Web Development, and developing a gambling tracker/payout calculator web application in Software Engineering I have been some of my favorite projects so far. I even find the minutiae life-giving: I remember texting a software engineer friend of mine expressing how I found even the data structures class fun and engaging. As my time in the program is drawing to a close, I can’t wait to get into the career field and continue pursuing my dream. 

Aside from classwork and grinding Leetcode, I continue making time for my hobbies: video games, the gym, fly fishing, skiing, and reading. Recent favorite games have included Final Fantasy XIV Online, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2. I still love reading about political history & philosophy and have also recently devoured Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series, Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem series, and Isaac Asimov’s Robots/Empire/Foundation series. And when not in front of the computer or reading a book, I’m enjoying my time exploring my for-now home of North Idaho, taking in as many lakes, rivers, and ski mountains as I can.