nbrandolini / essays-ada

essays-Ada

##Question 1.
Why are you interested in programming? What have you done to expose yourself to programming so far?

As a young girl at school in communist Romania, I was always interested in math and logic problems. We had no games or any other entertainment, so the way to keep yourself busy was to try to create your own puzzles by tearing newspapers in pieces and trying to recreate them or by solving riddles and math problems. I attended a high school specializing in math and physics, but despite excelling there, my family’s circumstances did not permit me to attend university upon graduation. Instead, I had to begin work at the local industrial plant (as a welder!). Nevertheless, during the next few years I was able to put myself through university by attending night classes. I qualified as an accountant, which was then a more realistic discipline for a woman in Romania than a career in a technical discipline. Computers were not available anywhere in Romania at the time, we did everything manually, so I never saw one until I immigrated to the US in 1997.

But I never lost my love for math and logic problems, so when I began to use computers at my job, I became intrigued about not only what they could accomplish, but how they work. While working as an accountant for the past 20 years, I kept up with the latest software developments and helped train other employees. When the college I was working for decided to switch from Oracle Finance to the Banner Finance Module, I was chosen to be part of the implementation and training team for the Finance and Student Modules. I also taught new employees the system as part of their training and I always enjoyed it.

For the last few years I have been restless and I realized that accounting it's not that exciting or challenging anymore, and that what I actually enjoy more are the challenges of the new software. I wanted to know more about it, so last year I started looking for programing boot camps, and on a reddit post I found out about Ada. I applied first chance I got, but didn't quite make it.

In the meantime, I’ve started to teach myself some programming. I first went to a class on how to create a blog using www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com, however that was not what I wanted. Following a set of instructions and templates on the screen was neither thought-provoking nor stimulating.

So, I started taking the introductory Python class at Udacity and Codecademy. Completing an exercise correctly is so exciting and addicting that oftentimes hours go by without my notice. Recently, I also took a class in HTML5/CSS at my local public library, where I learned how to create a simple website for a “Handyman”, using the code editor Brackets. I was thrilled to be able to see the results immediately with the Live Preview in Google Chrome, and I ended up going back for more classes including the CSS ones, which I must say are a bit more challenging but also exciting. Having to use Markdown for this assignment seems easier after an HTML class 😉

Since I last applied to Ada I got even more involved into programing and as of now I am on a path of completing a nanodgree program at Udacity as a front-end web developer. I am at the point in the program where I am learning JavaScript Foundation. This class has been very good for me and makes me feel even stronger about wanting to learn more and become better at it.

I would love to have the opportunity to learn this material in a classroom setting. Having talented peers with whom to collaborate, and teachers to guide me, would help me immensely. I think Ada is a really unique place where all of this could happen for me, even though computers came into my life at a later time than for majority of people.

##Question 2.
If you are accepted into our program, where do you see your career in five years?

In five years I see myself as a professional software developer working for an environmentally friendly, Seattle based-company in any one of a number of fields including, travel, social media, accounting or education. I believe my previous training in finance/accounting and customer service experience, as well as being bilingual, could be assets to any company. Wherever I go, it would be important to me to work for a company whose vision and ideals I support.

I also look forward to learning new programs and, should I find myself especially interested in any of them, I am ambitious to participate in new projects. This is an exciting time to be involved in programming as information technology now reaches into every part of our lives. I am particularly interested in how these new technologies might affect areas of social conscience, such as animal rights, climate change and women’s rights.

I think I bring significant life experience with me, a diverse background and I believe I have proved that I can overcome obstacles and persevere with my ambitions, even against great odds. I have determination, focus, stamina and a positive attitude; I think this would be essential to complete the program at Ada, and I believe it would augur well for a career in software development. During my career, I would like to encourage the uptake of women in the programing field as I know they can excel in it.

If I were to be accepted into the program, I would permanently relocate to Seattle, which I already checked. 😄 I like the city and the Pacific Northwest very much. I recently came on a reconnaissance trip to the city to get a sense of what living there would be like. During that trip, I dropped into the Ada office to see where it was and what it was like. (I was delighted to see the posters of Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace 👍

##Question 3.
After reading Ada’s Vision, Mission and Inclusivity Statement, how will you contribute to Ada’s vision for an inclusive and diverse community?

I grew up in a communist Romania. It was a society dominated by men, where you were not allowed to be different or think for yourself. My plan was always to try to escape at the first chance. That opportunity presented itself in 1996, when I found in the newspaper an address for the US Visa Lottery Program DV. I immediately applied and in 1997 I immigrated to United States with a suitcase in one hand and a child in the other. I came to find freedom of expression, freedom from a society where I could not find myself. In Romania, you were judged for being an individual, and individuality was not good.

When I arrived in Florida, I put myself through school at a local community college in Orlando - my degree from Romania was not recognized in the United States - and finished my bachelor degree in BS/Accounting. I eventually became the Budget Director of the same college. I also met my new husband there, remarried and raised my daughter next to a wonderful man, a new extended family, who respected me and appreciated everything that was different about me.

Five years ago, life gave me a new challenge: I lost my husband to cancer and my daughter moved away to college. I found myself empty and looking for new meanings. So, I decided to take some time off, to volunteer for the hospice that helped me with my husband. Some of the patients in the hospice facility had no family at all, so I was their only visit. I also took time to travel and emerge myself in different cultures in South America as well as Europe, among people I didn’t know, where I needed to learn new things and make new friends. I started thinking seriously of a career in programing and started looking for programing boot camps in the area, but found none.

If I can be part of this amazing group of women, I would bring my unique background, my diverse life experience, my ambition and my positive attitude, which will fit perfectly with the program's vision of diversity and inclusiveness. No matter where we come from or how we look, we must all make the best opportunities for ourselves and strive for our full potential. We need to embrace life with an open mind and a strong heart and continue to move forward. Most importantly, we need to be kind to each other.

##Question 4.
Tell us about a time you made a mistake that you learned a lot from. If you encountered the situation again, what would you do differently?

Several years ago, when I was the accounts payable supervisor at a large community college, it was my responsibility to generate the payments of financial aid checks to students. This task could take 10-16 hours to complete. So, in an effort to be more efficient, I would run the first part of the operation on the computer the evening before I left for home. When I came in early the next morning, I intended to complete the task; however, I became distracted by some minor issues in my office and, through not paying sufficient attention and ignoring a red-flag on the screen, I reran the whole operation from scratch. Although I realized immediately what I had done, there was no way to abort the job. It took the rest of the day and evening to fix it. We had to cancel lots of checks, a number of people had to stay late, and I was angry and embarrassed with myself.

I learned from this that when you know a system well and have performed an operation multiple times, you can be lured into a false sense of confidence. But, a momentary lapse of attention can lead to many problems. I have found this to be particularly true when working with computers, as one wrong input, if not noticed, can lead to exponentially more problems further down the line.

Consequently, I have always tried to give the proper attention to every task and not become over confident or distracted. After this error, whenever I had to run the major financial aid disbursements, I would place post-it notes on the computer screen, the keyboard and anything else I might have to physically touch. It worked every time.