My Story

"What do you want to do when you grow up" is such a tall question to ask a child. Most children when young will start out with grandiose occupations such as "Astronaut" or "Racecar Driver," and will often change their minds throughout their adolescence. I was the same way, but I feel that my decisions swung around a lot. They would regularly range from "Astronomer" to "Architect" to "LEGO Designer," the latter of which became a personal dream of mine, but it wasn't until I joined the robotics club that I found an interest in computers. I originally joined to build the LEGO robots that they had, but I quickly learned that I am terrible at building things. However, it was the programming that fascinated me. 

I continued on through High School learning more about technology and computer programming, so when the time came to choose a college path, I had an inkling of what I wanted to do. After researching several colleges, I chose to attend North Dakota State University. Not only was its tuition cheaper than most in-state tuition in Colorado at the time, but Fargo also had a Microsoft campus in town that offered internships, and I had a feeling that I would gain some great opportunities there. I ended up not getting an internship at Microsoft, but at Digikey Electronics instead as a software engineering intern.

While in Fargo, I decided to explore some of my other interests. I wanted to learn how to play the bagpipes and how to fence. I joined TBD Improv comedy and have done a few standup comedy shows. I have found a new hobby and several good friends through playing Dungeons and Dragons. I have even started training for some of the local races, such as the Fargo Marathon 5 and 10k. 

Overall, this has been a great period of exploration for me and I can't wait to see what the next chapter of my story is.