IRL, I am a
CoMpLeTeLy
NoRmAl GuY
. I have a family, live in an area, and show up to work just like a totally NoRmAl person. In the digital world, which has bled over into our reality,
I am a developer activist. I view code as a vehicle of change, and the decisions we make with code to be inclusive or exclusive, often times without our knowing.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google and other "social" and "search" spaces are built in an intentional way that ensures you keep coming back to them. Often times we build applications without realizing the impact they'll have in the world. Many early FB devs didn't realize the addiction and anger factories they were creating in the name of "connecting" us more closely.
I believe that through open source, standards, and the intentional building of systems to increase creativity and the plurality of voices online, that we can learn better and build better solutions in the process.
I assure you, when I was you, reading this right now, that at your age I was a very normal, passive person. I blended in. I didn't know what I wanted to do "when I grew up" even as I rapidly approached that time. Even when finding IST (my major) I didn't really know what I'd do with that beyond "computer stuff". And then, in graduate school, I found research and an opportunity and ideas that forever changed the way I engage with the world.
While we will not be exploring those questions that changed my life; it's important backing to who and what I am. Though I am here to educate you in web development, I do not arrive at the selection of things to teach you or standards to focus on by happenstance or by curricular oversight. I do it out of what I find to be the best way to enact change in the worlds and provide longevity in a field of constant change.
My hope for you is that you find this course interesting, learn a lot about web development, are able to get a job when you graduate, but more importantly, find the questions required to be the best you in the world.
If you haven't noticed, the world is a mess in all kind of areas. But there's good news. You are just around the corner. You can help. You can fix this; whatever the this happens to be. We need you. And we are so happy you're here. Now let's go get it.
Let's go find you.