{"id":12,"date":"2020-05-13T21:50:49","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T04:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2020-05-13T22:09:45","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T05:09:45","slug":"biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m currently a student at UBC in the Bachelor of Computer Science (ICS) program. This program provides a condensed degree in Computer Science intended for people who already have a bachelor\u2019s degree in another field. Personally, I have a previous degree in Psychology. When I graduated, I worked as a Behavioural Support Worker for my local school district. However, after a few years of loving that job, I decided I was up for a different kind of challenge. I had never coded before at all, so I tried it out one day. I ended up having a ton of fun, and thought I\u2019d apply to the BCS program.<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, I was extremely intimidated in this program. Computer Science is a massive field that is still very new to me, and it felt that I was very behind my peers in terms of experience and software-related knowledge. I am currently working as a Software Developer full-time while finishing off my degree. At work, I build software that allows businesses to engage with their customers, keep track of metrics, and even increase their sales. When I have a free moment, I\u2019m mentoring at hackathons, doing online tutorials, and putting in extra hours at work.<\/span><\/p>\n

The majority of my past work experience has been in the helping professions. My first job ever was McDonalds as a teenager, and after that, I navigated my way through multiple avenues of work — from biking instructor to customer service, and finally, a special needs support worker. Many people comment that my path was non-typical, but I would argue that my people skills that I have picked up along my seemingly-random jobs are invaluable. Today, I am able to effectively communicate with clients and co-workers alike. I would argue that if I went straight into Computer Science from the get-go, I would have missed out on years of other work experience that has allowed me to become a more well-rounded professional.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m currently a student at UBC in the Bachelor of Computer Science (ICS) program. This program provides a condensed degree in Computer Science intended for people who already have a bachelor\u2019s degree in another field. Personally, I have a previous … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44089,"featured_media":20,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/14"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kathrynsimone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}