In a world where the value of the scientific process is constantly under attack, I now find Darwin’s theory of evolution to be the most impactful scientific discovery to our modern medicine, as well as our modern self-conception. Darwin’s theory of evolution is so frequently attacked on faith-based matters that many of us now look upon it as something you either “believe” in or don’t, and do not properly value the impact this knowledge has had on medical progress and ethics. The lack of irresponsible medical experimentation on humans is easy to take for granted in our society which makes great use of the animal model. However, it is a relatively recent development. The US government itself is widely known to be implicated as late as the 1970s in doing egregious medical experimentation that exploited underprivileged people. For example, scientists who oversaw the Tuskegee study watched African American men deteriorate from untreated syphilis and kept these men unaware of their own condition for decades. The fact is that since Darwin laid out this theory that demonstrates the shared biological characteristics between humans and other animals—unethical medical experimentation on humans no longer has any valid excuse. This theory not only led to breakthrough discoveries in ethics that saved humans, as proposed in 1865 by Claude Bernard’s defense of the animal model for research, it also led to rapid advances in animal welfare! Recognizing the shared link between humans and rodents made people care about responsible animal testing. Darwin himself campaigned for the first law to ever regulate animal testing. Thanks to Darwin, medical science made rapid advancements through the 19th and 20th centuries as animals came to be recognized as an easier and more ethical way to conduct experiments, and the more refined and less cruel experiments were more accurate.

I love the aspect of Computer Science that brings together ingenuity and creativity with also logic and applied mathematics. My first experience with programming came through a college level course on game design, for which the instructor gave me permission so that I could learn whether I like coding. As someone with no little knowledge of computer science, it was unbelievable to see how a few declared variables could be transformed through logic into my very own versions of Asteroids and Pong. It had been years since I last did any pixel art or piano composing and getting to create with code stoked my creativity in those areas as well, so I could truly make work that reflected my own imagination. I love that so many applications of Computer Science have this yin and yang where the logic and the art inspire and feed back into each other. As a woman in the field of Computer Science, I suspect that my socialization might be off-putting to some. In my early years, I struggled with being submissive and shy out of self-criticism and perfectionism. Thankfully, my experience in the workforce has imbued me with greater confidence and leadership skills so I can no longer say that I am an especially timid person. I have been able to leverage those skills to help others in my current job and I think they have helped me succeed as a student, but I do see that occasionally other students particularly in my CompSci program seem put off. I think that a lot of men in the field hold a certain pride about being introverted, nerdy, and correct, so my extroverted and curious nature is sometimes responded to in a derogatory way. Personally, my approach is to demonstrate good will and respect while also sidestepping sarcastic jabs that demean my intelligence. With time, I have made some amazingly intelligent and wonderful friends in the program. I can see how, in the long term, it would benefit me to change my personality to reflect more of what’s common among men in the world of Computer Science. Especially being that roughly 70% of workers in the field are men, it really does not help to have a social style and attitude even further alienates me from the norm. That said, I truly believe that what I bring as a woman (more over one who is happily, frequently wrong, but always eager to learn more) is valuable and will be recognized in the long run. The experiences that make me the least cookie-cutter for this field will probably be the ones that help me the most in my future—for example, I am grateful that experiencing an unfortunate implementation of software in my present position has given me a unique perspective on bridging the gap between programmers and the people for whom they code. Through the frustrated calls of my fellow workers, who typically have a very low level of computer literacy, I have become very familiar with the wide range of problems that happen when software is not developed with their users in mind. I am working on developing a program that fellow workers at my job can use to problem solve customer inquiries and I hope that my educational future holds one of the software engineer student co-op positions that my company offers in the summer. I truly believe that us non-traditional Computer Science types owe it to our passion and to people like us to be faithful to our own capabilities. Diversity can only make the field stronger.

Everyone knows that algorithms are suspect and invasive, right? The thanks to my study of computer science is largely owed to the mass public demonization of “algorithms” that guide our experience of the internet and social media. In contemporary society, “the algorithm” is to blame for all the human failings evidenced in our technology. The algorithm is the thing that creates social divides, the algorithm is the thing that radicalizes, everything horribly human is the fault of the algorithm. When I was trying to get a better understanding of “the algorithm”, I was lucky enough to be guided by Youtube’s algorithm into Professor David J. Malan’s basic explanation of how computers use algorithms. From there, I have become fascinated with algorithmic thinking and machine learning. I became confident in my genuine interest in computer science through lectures posted online and getting to practice coding has solidified that into passion. My first foray into computer science in school was through a course on game development, and I was struck by how indie game development requires interdisciplinary mastery of so much computer science. For my first project, I focused on creating a basic enemy AI and the process was thrilling. It was amazing to witness how I could translate my observation of what works well in video game bosses and what kind of physicality is compelling, all into a system that composes an apparently responsive creature! When I entered the workforce, I learned how strongly I am interested in creating systems based off pattern recognition. In my role as someone who operated several laboratory rodent breeding colonies, I appreciate the opportunity to distill the knowledge that I have gained through years into a singular process for new hires to learn. My goal is to see how fast I can get new hires to reach the same level of understanding that I have. The great thing about entering the workforce early and returning to college as an older student is that I have this experience of learning through my job about the experience of creating and enacting standard operating protocols. I have learned firsthand how critical it is to engineer responsivity into the process and create systems that are adaptable to circumstance. As a student at a community college, my largest goal is to transition from community college to a rigorous university. In my initial educational background, my math education stopped before learning how square roots function. It has been an absolute joy to start learning Calculus and I hope that I can pursue my interest in applied math and data structures to the highest levels. As a student of computer science, I aspire to having a keen understanding of the theory that grounds my course of study. Something frustrating to many workers in my current field is the fact that current algorithms behind our inventory management and optimization simply do not work. The programs that we use in our jobs took years to develop and ultimately have failed. Workers spend several hours a day manually adjusting rats they manage (out of tens of thousands in their inventory) to make up for basic issues in the system. I would love to someday return to my present industry in the capacity of a software engineer and create programs that better address the needs of medical research science. It is, however, difficult for me now to study full-time while still needing to work full-time. I would deeply appreciate the opportunity that this scholarship would give me to step down on my hours at work so I can focus on learning.