Computers

The start of my passion for computers was at age 4 or 5; when I used my family's cheap Windows 95 desktop and our extremely slow internet connection to google "how can I make my computer faster."

Hamstrung by hardware that was always brought to its knees by any games I tried to play, I learned the ins and outs of managing and modifying computers; squeezing every last bit of performance out of them. That process, of researching ways to improve and configure hardware and software, continues to drive me now; and has taught me an immense wealth and breadth of technical information.

Since I've had devices of my own, I've been modifying them to achieve more than they were ever designed to; I've been involved in the scenes for modifying/rooting/flashing PSPs, Wiis, Xbox 360s, Nintendo DSes, Nintendo 3DSes, Android Phones, iOS devices, Canon cameras, Kindles, and routers. I've taken soldering irons to Orbweavers, used 3D printers and laser cutters, and built nearly a dozen computers—starting with a Frankenstein of parts from three different broken computers when I was 12 and ramping up to some of the builds you'll find on my PCPartPicker page.

Diagnostics and troubleshooting are skills I've built up in the crucible of the internet; relying wholly on research and ingenuity to achieve my goals and solve my (and my family members') problems.

Automation

I've been using computers to automate tasks since long before I started programming—whether it be replacing physical work, or using macro recorders to automate digital tasks. By the time I began programming, I already had a deep understanding of computers and an extreme patience—even enthusiasm—for troubleshooting difficult issues with limited information.

When I was younger, I always admired the people who wrote the programs and modified the firmware that I used; and it's been an incredible experience to become one of them. My enthusiasm for the design and implementation of software still appears limitless to me; I haven't run into a single challenge, language, or tool that I couldn't appreciate.

While I've enjoyed building a variety of projects for work and school, my personal projects have generally focused on automating tasks and streamlining my own workflow; to free up more of my time. Most of that freed time has gone back into more automation and workflow streamlining, compounding a cycle that has greatly simplified almost every aspect of my life.

Those kinds of personal projects are far too numerous to attempt to list, but the two given here have accompanying public repositories:

• I've setup a new Arch Linux installation; researching, selecting, and configuring every piece of software on the system. (systemfiles & dotfiles)

• I've written a large suite of containerized applications and development environments; enough to achieve an identical workflow on any computer with an internet connection. (dockerfiles)

Diversity

Diversity is the most important thing in my life. Working to truly understand the perspectives of others is one of the most challenging and rewarding things one can do. Learning from other people who differ from you—in any variety or degree of ways—and applying it to your own perspective is perhaps the best way to grow as a person.

I grew up in Port Chester, a microcosm of diversity and relative poverty, surrounded by many of the wealthiest areas in the entire United States of America. I've taken the 40-minute train ride to Grand Central many times, and similarly experienced New York City as a mecca for diversity of all kinds. Since I was born, I've visited grandparents in West Virginia multiple times a year; an area so very different from the metropolis I've grown up in and around.

I spent 11 years at a small international K-12 school; where almost every student was a first generation American, second generation American, or not American at all. Each year, the school would focus its theme and classes on a new country. Groups of foreign exchange students would arrive and depart constantly. We'd spend a full week every February visiting an eclectic assortment of religious institutions around NYC: everything from Buddhist temples and Christian churches to the headquarters of Scientology and Aol.

Growing up in those environments; carrying with me explicit intentions to understand, appreciate, and often adopt the perspectives of those around me; I became a very different person than one might expect from seeing what I look like.

Public Speaking

I've written and delivered dozens of speeches; to thousands of people; in 5 different countries. I've worked with interpreters, interviewers, microphones and often absolutely no warning.

Since my very first speech at age 10; I've seen the importance of balancing humorous and informative content in a clear, concise, and casual manner. If I am unable to explain something simply and with humor, I recognize that it's because I don't yet understand the topic or audience well enough.

Every speech is a responsibility to take the time and attention I've been given and repay the value of that to everyone in attendance. Giving a speech, my highest priority is to captivate the audience; grabbing their interest with humor and holding onto it with intrigue. The speech ends when the opportunities for providing value to the audience have been exhausted.

In a speech, I use my knowledge of the audience as a guide in translating how I see the world and topic into words, in real time.

My specialty is aiding cultural exchange; using the understanding I've worked so hard to get of others' perspectives to explain each group in terms understood by the other; building true empathy between very different sets of people.

Diplomacy

Starting in the 8th grade, my headmaster had me act as the ambassador for the school. As a student ambassador, I:

• Gave all of the speeches described in the last section.

• Built and maintained relationships with foreign contacts and administrations of sister schools; locally and abroad, in personal meetings and at formal dinners—often as the only student there—and sometimes aiding the headmaster with negotiations.

• Assisted hundreds of foreign exchange students from more than a dozen different countries; acting as an on-demand resource for guidance and information, and accompanying them on many of their scheduled activities.

• Designed and led many tours of NYC for exchange groups, sometimes without translators or any other adults.

• Led American students during foreign exchange trips.

I was the first and only student to take on all of these roles, and I am ecstatic to now know that I pioneered a program that grew after my graduation; though I hope for new ambassadors' sakes that their responsibilities aren't as numerous.

In being an ambassador, I saw my role not as a representative of the school, but as a mediator; working to bridge the gap between the groups I was working with; helping everyone to become more capable through unity.

Disability

My disability defines my entire life. It makes every single thing more difficult for me. I'm in a constant struggle against it in the pursuit of success. Not an hour goes by where I don't think about it; where I'm not forced to remember it. I have to manage my entire life around it; when I eat, when I sleep, when I work, when I play, everything.

I work hard every day to overcome the expectations and limitations that have been set for me by society and by my disability. When I was very young, I searched for (but was unable to find) role-models; people who share my disability yet ended up able to achieve the kinds of goals I had.

In college, I represented students with disabilities as a founding member of an advisory board setup by the school. At the same time, I assisted a member of the university's staff with a group he had set up as a space for people with the same disability to come and share stories and strategies, and/or commiserate. I helped him devise ways to expand the group and work around some bureaucracy issues, and I helped the other participants by sharing some of the strategies I've developed over the course of my life; fortunately often to (their) great success.

I want to advocate for everyone else struggling against limitations outside their control; to help create a world where they have more role-models they can look up to; so they don't feel as hopeless as I once did.

Video Games

I enjoy a very wide variety of video games: arthouse games and visual novels, souls-like games and MMORPGs; and everything in-between. I min-max as a glass cannon in every game possible, even and especially when that's a ridiculous idea.

I also play some competitive games; in which I am an unrelenting force of positivity. In League of Legends, I'm a Lux/Annie/Vayne/Jinx four-trick, and back when I was most active and they still existed, I held three honor ribbons simultaneously.

My main computer, FCDCBDA, was built for Fallout 4, signed by Todd Howard, and named in reference to Fallout 3.

I believe that video games have immense potential as an art from, and that they're getting better year by year in meaningful ways.

Hobbies

When I'm not learning, working, or playing on a computer or other electronic device; I can often be found spending time on things I both love and am terrible at, like ceramics, cooking, windsurfing, sailing, skiing, and bowling.

I might also be playing board/card games with friends; using Suzy Lafayette as a glass cannon in Bang!, or winning another round of Cards Against Humanity.

Whenever possible, I love to travel, engage in cultural exchange, and do a bit of urban exploration in the dead of night.

Oh, and I love subsets and random walks on the beach.