Although it has been a decade since I began to write code, my future in software engineering is only beginning. My love of programming blossomed from a hobby to a side business where I designed and maintained web sites for some of the kiteboarding and watersports companies in areas that I lived. I found that I enjoyed the entire process of building applications. I found an outlet for my creativity in the interface design, a challenge to my logical side in the code, and a source of nourishment that sated my hunger for learning. I quickly realized that I wanted to take programming from the peripheral and move it to the center of my daily life, so I enrolled in a degree program for computer science.
While at the University of Hawaii, I found a job working in the LAVA lab where I was able to use my web design skills in an entirely different way, and this has opened my eyes to a vast world of possibilities. Using the same languages that I used to develop websites, I created an interactive projection map that incorporates augmented reality. For the first time, I took the program out of a computer and brought it into the three-dimensional world. I plan to develop and hone my skills in the field of augmented reality and continue to strive towards creating applications that meld the reality with the digital world.
Still, my goals in software engineering are not limited to data visualization and augmented reality. I plan to make machine learning and artificial intelligence a second focus of my skill development. I am fascinated by the idea of algorithms that can learn and the endless possibilities for their use in our world. Yet I cannot say for sure where I will end up, for it is possible that I have not yet found my greatest passion, and this thought fuels my desire to learn all that I can.