🎵 Starting with...
The woman in the mirror.
Mom of two, wife of one. Lover of try/catch blocks and well-structured JSON. I'm probably in the middle of a LOTR, Potter, or Marvel marathon right now. That's the gist, but if you're still curious, read on...
Work
I’ve had the good fortune of landing in a vocation that I love more and more every day. (I write code for a living, in case that wasn’t already made clear.) I find programming to be a remarkable balance of left and right brain: there are standards and patterns, computations and equations, but there’s also ample room for critical-thinking and creativity. To be truly strategic, you really have to leverage both.
Juxtapose that balance with the rapid pace of innovation and you’ve essentially got an endless blue sky. There will always be a way to do something better – an optimization, a new pattern, a tool, a clarifying comment, a sneaky bug to squash – and that means there’s never a shortage of opportunities to grow and learn. For me, that’s inspiring.
Life
I am lucky enough to be the mom of two amazing tiny humans. They are the epitome of Ying and Yang. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Bruce Banner and the Hulk. It’s a dichotomy that keeps life interesting, to say the least.
My daughter, age 6, is cerebral and witty, brimming with fascination about the world around her. She and I are reading a book about women in STEM; it's inspiring to read about these tireless trailblazers, and equally inspiring to observe her unbridled enthusiasm about what the future holds. She thinks we should celebrate Elon Musk's birthday as a national holiday because “he's going to do a lot of cool stuff in space". My work here is done.
At the other end of the pole, my son, age 3, is a little ham who has a remarkable knack for turning any situation into a slapstick comedy. I sincerely hope that his penchant for lighthearted fun is never dulled because it’s truly a gift. For at least 17 hours of the day his energy levels are off the charts – I blame it on all the coffee and Red Bull we give him – but on occasion, he falls asleep sitting upright on the couch holding my hand. It's the stuff dreams are made of.
Apart from all the coding and “momming,” I like to cook and entertain and I like to build stuff with power tools. I’m an avid Netflix-binger and have absolutely no qualms about randomly taking five minutes to process subtle UI/UX features – this is a “quirk” my family just adores. (Not really.)
I also fancy myself a bit of a politics aficionado. In another life, I would be doing some sort of grassroots organizing – “pounding the pavement”, as they say in the biz – for civic and political engagement amongst young people. But for now, I just read a lot of news coverage and pontificate with my husband.