I fell in love with computers at nine when I learned how to make a graphical turtle crawl across the screen, and I’ve written code every week since. I am self-taught in nine programming languages (my favorite is C++), which I learned through iteration and persistence. Teaching advanced algorithms at a programming bootcamp for the past two years allowed me to share my love of computer science with others.
My interest in CS runs deep—from studying memory virtualization to the beauty of the B-Tree O(log n) search algorithm. Writing protein folding simulations for my biology teacher peaked my interest in computational science. Building real-world machine learning models during each of the last two summers expanded my awareness of the types of problems computers can help solve.
Over the years, though, I have shaped a focus: security. In the process of running multiple servers, developing custom security software, and configuring the switching and routing for a 96-computer network, I became fascinated with the challenge of creating secure systems. Software has found its way into all aspects of our lives, creating staggering risks to privacy and security. These are problems I want to study, understand, and solve.