![Art by OMGItsEggy A purple Lucario hugging a red heart](img/soullove.png)
Nice to meet you!
I'm 20 years old and I've spent most of my life dedicated to technology!
I think that tech proficiency is the best thing to learn in this modern age, and I spend a lot of time researching so I don't fall behind in the tech world.
What can I do?
I can do a lot! I am a certified technician, trained to diagnose issues with both computer software as well as hardware! I also have the Cloud Practitioner certification, so I can learn as much as I can about cloud computing.
I think that programming is an absolute must if you want to fully embrace computer science. I have been programming off and on since I was eight years old, first tinkering with Visual Basic .NET and the WebBrowser object to make my own "web browser", and now it's evolved into working with leading technologies in the industry.
Where have I worked?
PowerReviews (October 2022 - September 2023)
I worked closely with stakeholders to build robust, multi-layered applications for over a thousand businesses managing reviews and ratings. I collaborated with front-end developers, QA specialists, product managers, devops, and UX experts in an energetic agile development environment.
I honed my skills using a variety of technologies such as Java, Spring, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, Kotlin, and Python. My focus was on implementing new features and maintaining existing codebases while constantly exploring new technologies and flourishing within the AWS ecosystem. I took great pride in delivering top-quality code through thoughtful design, rigorous unit testing, and automated functional testing.
I worked on the team that manages data of nearly any kind, including managing product imports, web crawlers, and
review metrics. Outside of data collection, the team also worked closely with review moderation. We worked closely
with the moderation team to roll out an enhanced moderation process for our US English clients.
Many data, such wow.
Revature (May 2022 - September 2022)
My first taste of the engineering world. I went through an extremely rigirous twelve-week training program that shaped me into an eager junior developer. I learned the essentials of Spring Boot, Java, React, and TypeScript to create a complete application. I also learned PostgreSQL and fundamentals of relational databases and how to host applications with Amazon Web Services.
Since ny training, while in their Staging program, I got my Cloud Practitioner certification. I loved my time in their program, as I was able to work on programs that I found interesting to keep my skills sharp. Although I was released from their program, I am happy I experienced something that has shaped my career.
Dragon Tech Support (Aug 2020 - May 2021)
I worked with my local high school to gain hands-on experience as a computer technician, repairing the approximately 1,800 school laptops. I made sure that everyone that I saw had their problem not only resolved, but also that they were educated on how to prevent future issues.
I was praised for learning how to recycle laptops to find parts that would otherwise have to be reordered. I rigorously tested each part before using it to ensure a quality and long-lasting repair.
What am I doing?
I have been working on a lot of small projects throughout the years, but as of recently, I have honed in on creating programs for otherwise outdated systems.
Andy's Collection
An Alternate Reality Game centered around unusual prototypes of vintage video games. I am the manager and main programmer of it, and this really helped me understand learning to program on unfamiliar architectures.
Pac-NES (Coming Soon)
An accurate arcade port of the game Pac-Man for the Famicom and NES. Intended to replace the rather lacking port made by Namco, this project will contain highly accurate sprites, sound, and patterns left out by the original ROM.
Beyond programming, I have also spent a lot of time (for over four years!) in studying and understanding the SAME standard. This standard is the backbone of the modern EAS and weather radio networks used by the US and Canada! I now own two EAS encoders and I am also able to very accurately simulate what alerts might be issued in very unusual circumstances.