Strong opinions, loosely held.

Software should improve peoples’ lives.

This blog is a space for me to reflect on things I think I’ve learned in an effort to understand them better.

Who?

My name is Gina, and I’m a software engineer based in Columbia, Maryland. I enjoy being a full stack developer - a jack of all trades with fingers in all the lasagna layers. I like to make things, and I enjoy it more if those things are useful to people.

I’m a high school dropout. At 15, I developed health issues that prevented me from sitting in a classroom all day. My high school wasn’t willing to make any accommodations, and after two weeks of missing too many classes, they dropped me, saying I couldn’t return because I was no longer in their honors program. I initially planned to go for my GED, but thanks to my mother’s persistence, I ended up at a early college program that let me take college classes for high school credit. I graduated from the program at 18 with both a high school diploma and an associate degree.

After a couple of years of taking undergraduate classes and working in IT, I went to Oregon State University and earned my bachelor’s degree in 2018. At that point, I had never lived more than an hour from home. I knew no one on the East Coast, and had never been there, but I accepted a job offer that brought me to Maryland. I made my move to Maryland with a one way plane ticket, a backpack, and a suitcase.

I now own a home with my boyfriend, two cats, and one dog. We hope to travel lots, have a yummy garden, increase the household cat-to-dog ratio, continuously try new hobbies and pick up new skills… and maybe not all of those goals are shared. I’m currently learning how to sew and intermittently running - I ran my first half marathon this year!