Background

Hello world! 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I'm Hannah, upcoming Computer Engineering student at the University of Waterloo and participant in Google's Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) 2014. In five days, I'll be leaving for CSSI at Google Seattle/Kirkland, and I couldn't be more excited! Through this blog, I hope to not only chronicle my adventures at CSSI but also beyond, going into the world of university and Computer Engineering. Furthermore, I hope that my experiences may be useful to anyone else who is interested in applying to CSSI or looking to pursue a similar field. 

First off, I'll be talking a bit about my background experience. My initial exposure to computer science was through an introductory course in grade 9. The programming that we learned was with a very basic programming language Turing, in addition to some HTML and CSS; the course was what began to foster my interest for understanding the ways in which computers function.

Unfortunately, after moving the next year, my new high school didn't offer computer science courses. Being busy with the International Baccalaureate program and other extracurricular activities didn't leave much time for self-exploring programming during the school years. However, in 2013 I had the opportunity to work as a Summer Research Student at the University of Alberta, through the Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program. I was placed in a computer science (CS) lab, where I worked with several other high school students, a CS graduate student, and a CS professor to develop an educational tool that focused on sexual health. In six weeks, we came up with the idea and then programmed our game using the game development tool GameSalad. Although this meant that we didn't have the opportunity to learn a new programming language, the experience heightened my understanding of the logic behind programming code. Furthermore, through the process of coding the game, I gained a lot of insight into the benefits and challenges of working on a team, especially in merging code and helping each other debug and solve any problems that we encountered. By the end of the summer, we managed to create a tangible phone application, featuring a four-level educational tower defense-style game! If you're interested in checking it out, you can download the game from iTunes or Google Play, depending on your phone platform.

The WISEST Summer Research Program was a truly valuable experience for me, which solidified my desire to pursue either Computer Science or Computer Engineering in post-secondary education. Participating in the program also opened up my eyes to the many programs that were available during the summer; although I didn't have much time to learn to code during the year, I sought out other experiences that would allow me to make the most out of my summer. In particular, this summer mattered a lot to me because university would be right around the corner and I wanted to start off with some degree of preparation. And so, when I found out about Google CSSI, I knew I was going to do my best to apply for a dream experience.

As I count down the days to CSSI, I will be talking more about applying to the program and also why I chose Computer Engineering!