I was born with one red arm. Due to complications at birth, my entire left arm took on a brilliant, deep, red pigmentation a few hours after I was born and has stubbornly remained that way since. My mother cried and wanted to know what was wrong with her baby. The doctors looked at one another and quietly told my mother that the arm is fine but would not grow and would remain miniature my entire life. She cried and cried and they comforted her by assuring her that I was perfectly normal, otherwise. Unfortunately, doctors do not know everything; and I entered elementary school with a severe speech impediment, poor impulse control, and a very limited attention span. After a few years of struggling with my peers, teachers, and counselors, I was finally sent to a professional therapist. She talked with me for a while about who has touched me where and whether or not I like my parents. The therapist then sent me to see a psychiatrist; and, after numerous sessions, interviews, and tests, I was diagnosed with an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, prescribed 40mg of Ritalin a day, and enrolled in a speech therapy program.
Some time passed, and my behavior and speech improved dramatically. My teachers were pleased and praised me for my exceptional scores in math and the language arts. It looked as though the medicine had solved everyone's problems.
When I began high school, however, I decided that I no longer wanted to take medication. I did not want to be dependent on a little, white pill for the rest of my life. I stopped taking the drug and struggled with most of my classes but continued doing well in math, science, and computers; the hands-on activity and direct interaction that these courses offered allowed me to focus my extra energy on the task at hand. I looked forward to these classes and always did very well in them. In particular, I found that I really enjoyed working with the computer. Soon, I was the best computer student in the school and given special assignments. The spring semester of my freshman year I was placed in an advanced computer class focused on programming in BASIC. This is when my serious interest in computer science began.
In my sophomore year of high school, long before the days of publicly accessible internet, I created, set up, funded, and ran The Foundation, a free computer bulletin board system for students wishing to telecommunicate, allowing anyone with a modem and a computer to dial into my computer and become part of a virtual community. The system was built around multi-thread discussions and was in constant need of more, intellectually active users. I advertised the system heavily and allowed my computer teachers to use it in telecommunication lectures. Activity picked up, and I had to begin modifying the original source code, which was written in C and available to anyone who purchased the software. I used a programming guide to first make small changes to the system and eventually was custom-tailoring the program to the needs of both students and teachers. The bulletin board's popularity increased; and by my junior year, I had over forty-five daily calls and over one hundred active users. When I was a senior, I was honored with two best-in-class awards for outstanding accomplishment and excellence in the field of computer science and computer information processing. I had learned to program; but, more importantly, I had learned many valuable lessons from this three-year experience including leadership; management; and the importance of activity, interaction, and stimulation when creating and maintaining any kind of community, virtual or otherwise. I really enjoyed the creative possibilities programming provided and the way mathematical problem solving could be applied to everyday applications. I felt that the computer would have a tremendous impact on more and more people's lives, especially those with disabilities and special needs. I wanted to be a part of this movement forward and decided that I needed to learn more about the science behind computers. My college and career path were obvious.
When I began my undergraduate career at Cal Poly Pomona I was re-exposed to the many of the same subjects that I drifted by in high school. This time, however, it was sink or swim; I could not just float by. It was time to face the subjects I had looking away from for so many years and conquer them, but I knew it would be difficult without some kind of help and most certainly did not want to fall back on psychotropic remedies. So, I enlisted the help of Disabled Student Services and explained to them the trouble I had in the past. I told them that I was willing to dedicate myself completely and work as hard and long as I needed to succeed but did not want to rely on medication. After interviewing me and reviewing my psychiatric portfolio, they assigned me to a counselor, provided a quiet place to take test and study, and aided me in developing a rigorous study schedule built around work, diet, and intermittent exercise, which has proven to be an invaluable asset to me in the classroom, workplace, and home.
The humanities were relatively new to me, and I found them intriguing. I was excited and spent an average of four to five hours a day studying. Soon, I began to question the path I had been following. I realized my education had been totally lopsided up to this point. It suddenly occurred to me that there was more to life than just computers. I felt like I had just woken up from a long, intense dream and was ready to make amends. Things like literature, philosophy, and world history, caused me to question the narrow educational path I had chosen. In particular, I fell in love with the study, critical deconstruction, and creation of literature; it was both exciting and new to me. I thought about which educational path would take me where I wanted to go and which would allow me to become who I wanted to be and decided that computer science and world literature were the most important to me and did not have to mutually exclude each other.
I did extremely well in the humanities department, developed many close relationships with my professors, and made the Dean's List three times; but I knew from the beginning that I did not want to pursue graduate study in the field. I would study English first and then Computer Science afterward, as I had always planned, affording me the luxury of dedicating myself wholly to the study when the time came. I was awarded a B.A. degree in English Literature in June of 2000.
I was determined to become a computer scientist and knew I had to continue with my education, but I was out of money and in no position to take on any more student loans. So, I got a job providing computer and network support for the local school district. My job duties included network infrastructure design, repair, and maintenance. I was hardworking, timely, and successfully completed all the task assigned to me. Although, I have grown as a person through my employment, I found the work to be mentally unchallenging and devoid of the sort of the science, design, and larger purpose I desire.
Today, my left arm, though still the color of freshly spilled blood, is almost the exact same size as my right; and I have bested the doctors' quick conjecture by becoming exceptional and not just perfectly normal. My needs, desires, and behaviors are not always the same as my peers; but I discovered that the fierce energy lying in this difference can be controlled and redirected towards success. I have received an invaluable amount of help from people willing to work with me. Now, I would like to use my talents to help others. I am going to design and engineer both biologically integrated and mechanically integrated computing technology for those with disabilities and special needs.
Some time passed, and my behavior and speech improved dramatically. My teachers were pleased and praised me for my exceptional scores in math and the language arts. It looked as though the medicine had solved everyone's problems.
When I began high school, however, I decided that I no longer wanted to take medication. I did not want to be dependent on a little, white pill for the rest of my life. I stopped taking the drug and struggled with most of my classes but continued doing well in math, science, and computers; the hands-on activity and direct interaction that these courses offered allowed me to focus my extra energy on the task at hand. I looked forward to these classes and always did very well in them. In particular, I found that I really enjoyed working with the computer. Soon, I was the best computer student in the school and given special assignments. The spring semester of my freshman year I was placed in an advanced computer class focused on programming in BASIC. This is when my serious interest in computer science began.
In my sophomore year of high school, long before the days of publicly accessible internet, I created, set up, funded, and ran The Foundation, a free computer bulletin board system for students wishing to telecommunicate, allowing anyone with a modem and a computer to dial into my computer and become part of a virtual community. The system was built around multi-thread discussions and was in constant need of more, intellectually active users. I advertised the system heavily and allowed my computer teachers to use it in telecommunication lectures. Activity picked up, and I had to begin modifying the original source code, which was written in C and available to anyone who purchased the software. I used a programming guide to first make small changes to the system and eventually was custom-tailoring the program to the needs of both students and teachers. The bulletin board's popularity increased; and by my junior year, I had over forty-five daily calls and over one hundred active users. When I was a senior, I was honored with two best-in-class awards for outstanding accomplishment and excellence in the field of computer science and computer information processing. I had learned to program; but, more importantly, I had learned many valuable lessons from this three-year experience including leadership; management; and the importance of activity, interaction, and stimulation when creating and maintaining any kind of community, virtual or otherwise. I really enjoyed the creative possibilities programming provided and the way mathematical problem solving could be applied to everyday applications. I felt that the computer would have a tremendous impact on more and more people's lives, especially those with disabilities and special needs. I wanted to be a part of this movement forward and decided that I needed to learn more about the science behind computers. My college and career path were obvious.
When I began my undergraduate career at Cal Poly Pomona I was re-exposed to the many of the same subjects that I drifted by in high school. This time, however, it was sink or swim; I could not just float by. It was time to face the subjects I had looking away from for so many years and conquer them, but I knew it would be difficult without some kind of help and most certainly did not want to fall back on psychotropic remedies. So, I enlisted the help of Disabled Student Services and explained to them the trouble I had in the past. I told them that I was willing to dedicate myself completely and work as hard and long as I needed to succeed but did not want to rely on medication. After interviewing me and reviewing my psychiatric portfolio, they assigned me to a counselor, provided a quiet place to take test and study, and aided me in developing a rigorous study schedule built around work, diet, and intermittent exercise, which has proven to be an invaluable asset to me in the classroom, workplace, and home.
The humanities were relatively new to me, and I found them intriguing. I was excited and spent an average of four to five hours a day studying. Soon, I began to question the path I had been following. I realized my education had been totally lopsided up to this point. It suddenly occurred to me that there was more to life than just computers. I felt like I had just woken up from a long, intense dream and was ready to make amends. Things like literature, philosophy, and world history, caused me to question the narrow educational path I had chosen. In particular, I fell in love with the study, critical deconstruction, and creation of literature; it was both exciting and new to me. I thought about which educational path would take me where I wanted to go and which would allow me to become who I wanted to be and decided that computer science and world literature were the most important to me and did not have to mutually exclude each other.
I did extremely well in the humanities department, developed many close relationships with my professors, and made the Dean's List three times; but I knew from the beginning that I did not want to pursue graduate study in the field. I would study English first and then Computer Science afterward, as I had always planned, affording me the luxury of dedicating myself wholly to the study when the time came. I was awarded a B.A. degree in English Literature in June of 2000.
I was determined to become a computer scientist and knew I had to continue with my education, but I was out of money and in no position to take on any more student loans. So, I got a job providing computer and network support for the local school district. My job duties included network infrastructure design, repair, and maintenance. I was hardworking, timely, and successfully completed all the task assigned to me. Although, I have grown as a person through my employment, I found the work to be mentally unchallenging and devoid of the sort of the science, design, and larger purpose I desire.
Today, my left arm, though still the color of freshly spilled blood, is almost the exact same size as my right; and I have bested the doctors' quick conjecture by becoming exceptional and not just perfectly normal. My needs, desires, and behaviors are not always the same as my peers; but I discovered that the fierce energy lying in this difference can be controlled and redirected towards success. I have received an invaluable amount of help from people willing to work with me. Now, I would like to use my talents to help others. I am going to design and engineer both biologically integrated and mechanically integrated computing technology for those with disabilities and special needs.
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