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Intro post and what to expect

An introduction

Division of Continuing Education

Division of Continuing Education - Cambridge, MA John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons - License

My main motivations for starting a website and blog were three-fold:

  1. I want to have an actually "up-to-date" website (that isn't from 2018).
  2. I was motivated to have a place where I could write regularly about my progress and curiosities as an engineer & designer. The benefits of writing as you develop are numerous.
  3. I am starting classes toward my Master's in Computer Science at the Harvard Extension School this Summer, and wanted a place to share my journey and the things I learn along the way. I have only really found some old blog posts and recaps of student's broad impressions, but given that HES is revamping degrees as of this summer, I want to help inform the next wave of prospective and current students in their decision-making process.

Why should you care or follow along?

I like to think of myself as a liasion between design, engineering, and research in the UX Engineering space. My undergraduate degree came in the form of a mixture of CS and UX Design & Research, with a focus area in HCI. I have written an Undergraduate Honors Thesis in this area (see the Home tab), so I have experience in academic writing and research.

  • If you are a current or prospective student at the Harvard Extension School looking into Computer Science or Digital Media Design Master's programs, I am really exited to be sharing my journey and lessons learned through this education.
    • What I am learning
    • Class recommendations
    • Social scene
    • Recommended resources (both online and in-person)
    • And much more insight as I learn more from other scholars in the program.

(Let me know if you want to see a full post on the application process!)

What is my background?

I have an BS in Human-Centered Design and Development at Penn State - Schreyer Honors College, and currently work as a UI/UX Engineer for Charles River Analytics. I tailored by Bachelor's degree to fit this liasion mindset: classes in UI/UX Design, plenty of CS courses, and I even took a few graduate classes in HCI as a part of my Focus Area. Ultimately, this left me uniquely positioned to positively contribute to discussion in each discipline, a "Full-stack Devsigner" if you will 😂. My current day-to-day includes both design and engineering tasks, so I really do practice what I preach. I'm now pursuing graduate school while I work as a way to continue my education while implementing what I learn directly back into the workplace. Subjects such as AI, ML, and computer vision are some of the areas I have little-to-no experience in currently, but I know they are quickly shaping the future of society. Understanding how these technologies work will help to instill informed decisions about the work I do and the advice I give to students and professionals in this space.

What are Cambridge & Boston like?

I love living in Cambridge/Boston as it's one of the best places to live for young professionals in the USA (literally #1 in 2023). With Harvard & MIT, great public resources, a progressive mindset, and so many social activities to join year-round, it's such a lovely place to live in your 20s & 30s. I also really enjoy the dynamic of having the city-life of Boston a quick T-ride away, while also having the motivating academic mindset of Cambridge for when you want to slow down or get productive work done. You truly get this feeling of being around intelligence everywhere you go - it's super motivating and helps with pushing through times of being unmotivated. Even if you are primarily taking classes online through HES, the chats and platforms available to students really extend this mindset everywhere in the world.

What should I expect as a reader?

I want this site to be a valuable and accurate resource of my lived experiences. I will always write truthful and accurate articles, provide updates on my impressions and opinions, and genuinely consider suggestions and feedback from all of my readers. Please reach out to me at nia997@g.harvard.edu if there's anything I can cover that would be useful or interesting for you! I want this to be a platform of both education and insight, truthful and honest.

Technologies I use

  • TypeScript/JavaScript
  • React
  • Python
  • React Native

What I am learning

  • Next.js
  • Rust
  • Computer Vision
  • ML

Apps I'm loving right now

  • Figma
  • Raycast
  • Arc Browser
  • Cron

I have questions, how should I reach out to you?

Please feel free to reach out! I would love to hear from you! Please put "Intro from website - <your name>" as the headline so I receive it and can respond!