I am really not good at talking about myself. I never know quite what to say. If you look at my CV you will think I am psychotic or hopelessly lost. I have done a little of everything but not completely settled anywhere.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology because while I was in college I thought it was the most interesting subject. I did not do a lot of research into what kinds of jobs you can get with this degree. The answer is not many.
I minored in nutrition (it was almost a double major but I didn’t really want to stay in college for an additional 2 years to take 4 chemistry classes required for the major). I also at one time declared my minor as ballet so I could take the dance classes intended for the majors and minors and fulfill my PE requirement.
I worked for a year in a research lab at Harvard Medical School working with a tropical parasite no one has ever heard of. The experiments we ran took a lot of prep time to set up and then ran for 6 to 8 hours. That meant my boss and I had hours and hours and hours to kill babysitting an experiment. We played with the early personal computers. I learned a lot about them in that year.
Eventually, I decided I should get a masters degree so I could become gainfully employed. I entered a History program. Stop laughing. I have always liked history. It was almost my major in college. I took one masters class at a time while having 2 children. It was slow but I loved every minute. Again, it turns out that a master degree in history is not exactly the entry in to a lucrative career. They graduate 2500 PhDs in history every year and there are about 250 open faculty positions every year. Those are not good odds.
I spent a year as an elementary school librarian – setting up the library’s computers and network. Because of my masters degree the school had me take the training for Success For Reading program (a program to target children in at risk schools and improve their reading level and thereby their chances for success in life). I taught a reading group that year too.
So, back to school I went for a masters degree in computer science. This time I was going where the money was – computers. All my life I had been told and I believed that I was not a technical person. It turns out that I am not just technical, but I have always thought about things like an engineer! I fell in love with C++ programming. I picked up object-oriented programming like it was my native tongue. I had finally found my passion. Oh, and then I had twins!
I had a couple of really good software engineering gigs and I got to work with some really smart and really generous programmers. They were kind about my inexperience and they helped me learn not just how to write code, but how to make the code sing.
And then my job went to Russia. Globalization sucks. Since my husband had landed a nice academic job I figured that was a nice stable route too. Since 2003, however I have been a busy adjunct (read part time) professor of technology at a number of universities. I found that I could teach online classes, work from home, set my own hours and make a decent income doing what I like almost as much as programming – teaching programming!
But of course, there had to be a gotcha. The gotcha is that if you really want to teach college level technology courses as a career you need a PhD. So, you guessed it, back to school I went. I am now nearing the end of my PhD course work at Purdue. My focus is on computer forensics and the legal and policy issues surrounding it.
Out of necessity I have become an expert on school placement for twins. I know more about home schooling and those options than I ever dreamed I would. I am the best resource and the most hated parent at the local elementary school because advocating for my children (and my students) is my job.
When I am not teaching classes, taking classes, or chasing children who are growing up way too fast I am doing my best to evangelize technology to every interested woman who will listen to me. One of my goals is to bring more women into technology.
So, there you have it. More or less who I am. A professional student, professor, programmer and mom with more interests than time to pursue them all. And just to make sure you can’t pigeon hole me, I also like to sew, garden and listen to opera. I am a full member of the Iron Butt Association and I gained my membership by riding on a motorcycle over 1000 miles in under 24 hours. You can look it up. I love technology and working with technology. I am currently using a MacBook Pro and it is pink!
I like to blog about current events, the state of the world as I see it, technology and policy and other random mumblings.