Every six months I have to answer this question: “Describe your computer and web skills”. I have been involved in computers for a very long time now. Even before the internet was invented. This is my technical biography.
In the early 1960’s my Dad worked for IBM. He used to take me to work with him. I remember going in the gigantic freezing cold computer room with the IBM 360 and 3.75 megabyte disk drives that were taller than me.
My first two years of college were at Mills College where I was a math and computer science major. Lenore Blum was head of the department and she had received a grant from Washington D.C. to increase women in computer science. As a result, we had a direct line to the Stanford Pascal compiler. We were working on the first desktop computers including the Apple II. We had field trips to Silicon Valley. It was cutting edge. My first program was a gardening application.
Switching to UCLA for my junior and senior years involved switching majors to Economics and a less high-tech environment. I learned programming on a mainframe involving punch cards. One of the languages I learned was SQL, and I still have my college textbook. My first job out of college was as a data systems administrator for an accounting service bureau. I worked on a VAX mini-computer.
I worked at the New York Times in the 1980s (pre-internet) on a top secret special project to invent an electronic newspaper. (This was a VERY FUN job.) We were working on mini-computers still and designing our own proprietary dual processor. One of my jobs was to design the first electronic shopping product.
After the New York Times ended this project I went to work for Peat Marwick as an in-house systems analyst. I designed and installed computer systems for departments within their corporation headquarters in New Jersey and New York. I learned database programming here and used Foxbase for desktop applications and PACE on the WANG minicomputer. I built specialized applications for the distribution, partner’s meeting and legal departments.
Then I took a long break from computers when I went back to college to become a teacher. I have been a teacher for twenty years now. One day when I was teaching an eighth grade math class I knew I had to go back to school to catch up on the twenty years I had missed in the technology field so I could inspire my students to pursue technology degrees. I have been going to Santa Rosa Junior College to pursue my certification in Web Graphic Design. I am proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, HTML5, CSS3 and WordPress. I am learning JQuery and PHP.
Now I can’t believe I have a tiny computer that fits in my back pocket (my cellphone) with 64 gigs on it.
I am a private tutor and tutor students individually in all subjects from 3rd grade to college age. My favorite subjects to teach are math, reading and test prep (SAT, ACT, etc.) For exercise, I like to hike, ski and do yoga. Recently, I have taken up investing as an interest. Although I’m realizing that the investment field has changed a lot in the last ten years and has become so unpredictable that the average investor cannot trust pure economic indicators. It’s not for the faint-hearted and I can see why most people just hire someone to do this part of their life for them. I am also studying to become a Florida hemp industry flower essence practitioner. I have been obsessed with health and other esoteric things for a long time and am always trying to educate myself about our mysterious journey on this earth.
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