personalStatment (3633B)
1 With computers becoming ever more important in our day to day lives, as they have been for many 2 decades now, the understanding of how they work is of increasing value. I go out of my way to learn 3 more and teach others about computers, for example starting my own club at my college called 4 The Unix user group, to teach people the history of Unix. 5 6 One can often find me in my free time, doing research on or making a new tool to better my workflow, and much 7 to my friends irritation, trying to get them to use it too. Coding has really been a lifeline for me, 8 starting around covid, I had time to self teach, and that's what I did; most of the tools I now 9 use are self taught, for example the main language I write in is C, even though in school and collage I've 10 only even been taught python. Having learnt C really drew me to another of my interests which 11 is micro-controllers such as the PI pico and Arduino UNO; being aware of how low level languages function 12 really made working on the constrained space of a microcontroller feel more natural. Using these 13 tools I've built everything from games, to text editors, and even a custom keyboard/keypad, all of 14 which were started by myself and finished by myself. 15 16 After I learnt the basics of coding I looked projects as examples for my own work, this drew 17 me to the open source software space, and since I began that search, I have switched almost 18 all the software I use to open alternatives. Doing this really pushed me to industry standard 19 tools, like GNU/Linux and command line utility's like Vim, GDB and Latex to name a few. This switch 20 really introduced me to all kinds of software, that I know I will use for many years. 21 I think having made this jump did nothing but help me, making me eager to write more code, 22 contribute to others, and keep finding other projects. 23 24 I have always enjoyed large project work, and at college I've had far more opportunity's to do 25 things like large programming projects, and practical write ups. I always 26 try and go above and beyond in these tasks, as an example for my computer science coursework, 27 I made my own compiled programming language from the ground up. I decided that in my second year I would 28 write an EPQ on software licensing which I have now started; this too was because I enjoy pushing myself, 29 researching new things and completing projects. I really cant wait to be doing this more 30 at university where this kind of work is more common, as I find its where I show my full ability 31 to take a project from an idea to a finished product. My hobby has also expanded into my education, 32 most obviously in my course choices, however also, as previously mentioned, in things such as the 33 club I started and run myself, (Unix user group), teaching others from my own self taught knowledge. 34 As an extension to my education, I found work experience with the company EWAVE, where I worked with 35 and tested micro LED's, using my knowledge of electronics as a base and my knowledge of computer 36 science to assist the company in automating its testing process. 37 38 Outside of my education I have a job working in a restaurant; I found it stressful at first, but now 39 I find it very rewarding; I've masted it, I enjoy what I do, and I have made friends in my 40 colleges. Using teamwork skills from over 10 years of scouting, I play an important role in keeping 41 the kitchen moving at pace. 42 43 Looking forward, I am excited to continue my studies, I want to show people what I can do, and 44 make things that help others. I would like to keep my studies going to a high level, researching 45 the cutting edge of computers and electronics.