Extracurricular Activities
I am currently serving as the communications officer for the Oregon Tech Christian Fellowship club. I'm also involved with a group that plays underwater football for fun. Additionally, I enjoy hiking, playing the piano, cooking, driving, and photography/videography.
A Little Bit About Me
I was raised in the small community of Pleasant Hill, Oregon, just outside of Eugene. I'm the oldest of four siblings and was homeschooled by my wonderful parents. From a young age, I enjoyed technology and all of the possibilities it affords - a trait I inherited from my grandfather, an Oregon Tech graduate himself. In middle and high school, I participated as a member of multiple robotics teams and later helped start another team, which I mentored until graduation. I love to tinker - take things apart, fix things, build things. Over the years, I've built a lot of impractical toys and worked on some fun projects, including a remote-controlled spy robot, a giant flashlight, and a solar rechargeable laptop battery bank. With technology surrounding me in all avenues of life though, I've found it often important to step away and enjoy the other blessings around me. Hiking, camping, exploring and road trips all bring joy and balance into my life. I also enjoy cooking, swimming, playing the piano, and photography/videography.
Why I Chose Oregon Tech and My Major
I chose Oregon Tech because of the small class sizes and hands-on approach to learning. I appreciate the opportunity to know my professors personally, and that’s harder to do at larger schools. I've also found myself better prepared in the workplace, in part, because of the emphasis on hands-on learning in my degree program. This is one of the reasons I chose my major, but also because it most closely matched my personal interests, and I hope to spend my career doing what I enjoy.
My Influential Professors
I have to point to George Drouant here. He's awesome, both as a teacher and as a person. He understands when class materials get challenging or boring, and somehow manages to keep the class engaged. He pushes his students to understand the material, while also being reasonable with deadlines and assignments. I especially appreciate George though because he's not just at Oregon Tech to teach. He's always happy to assist with student's personal projects outside of class time, something he's done with me on multiple occasions. I know I can come to him with questions and despite his humility about his own expertise, he always finds an ingenious way to fix the problem and explain it in a fun and engaging way.
My Greatest Learning Experience At Oregon Tech
I'm taking a more abstract approach here, but college isn't just about academics. Of course, you can make it anything you want it to be. But for me, being a college student at Oregon Tech has taught me how to be an adult. I've learned how to communicate, how to manage a schedule, how to manage money and a budget, how to shop and cook, how to grow professional relationships, how to find a job, how to grow a professional network. If I had to pick one learning experience that was most impactful though, I'd have to pick time management. It's something that effects every part of my life, whether I'm bored and need to stay busy or whether I'm busy and need to stay rested. It's a skill that I'm continuing to learn every day.
My Plans After Graduation
It's hard to say where life will lead me. But technology is something I enjoy and want to continue to work with. I'm attracted to the cutting edge, fast-paced and innovative environment of a tech startup, and would love to contribute there to technology that is useful and beneficial for the world we live in. With that said, I feel the weight of the moral implications of this industry as artificial intelligence continues to advance, and I want to continue to think critically about what I choose to support and where my contributions will be used. I know for certain though that I'm not going to stop tinkering and building my own projects. I hope to continue that for a long time regardless of my career!