Interview Meme

There's an interview meme going around which I got from Ambivalent Academic. I knew she would ask me some interesting questions, and she sure did! The rules are below.

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me" AND leave your email address (or blog link) in the comment! I will interview the first three commenters to ask for it. I's got shiz to do peeps :).
2. I will respond by emailing you (or commenting on your blog with) five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. (If you don't have a blog, I can post your answers here).
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

AA: Do you have a defining event that inspired you to go into Computer Science? What sparked your passion?

PD: I really didn't have a defining moment. I decided to become an engineer largely because my father is an engineer, and being the child of immigrants, choosing engineering is always a good choice. On the first day of my required classes, I realized that I liked the subject matter. I remember thinking, "This must be genetic" because I don't think it's quite normal to like the stuff I was learning, but thanks Dad! But definitely, I wasn't inspired from childhood to always do this. I couldn't code worth a damn when I started college, and I still wouldn't say I am a code ninja. However, one day I took Intro to Subfield, and I realized that, for the first time at Ivy U, I just "got it." I didn't have to study. I could think very well at the level of abstraction the course dealt with. It just made sense. So, from there, I just stuck with it. And I still like it, and it still makes sense. It's cool shit.

AA: How did you meet Mr. PhizzleDizzle? How did you know he was The One?

PD: I met Mr. PhizzleDizzle in college. We were in the same major. I thought he was a biiiiig dork, and I never ever ever would have conceived that we would eventually marry. But we were study buddies every now and then, and we were friends. You know, those guys who are sweet, and dorky, and harmless such that you can be good friends? That's what we were. Sweet, harmless, Mr. Phizzle. Then one semester we were lab partners for a very time intensive course. We spent a crapton of time together, and by the end, we figured something was up, and began dating. Awwwww, geek love.

As for knowing that he was The One, I don't believe in The One. I think the idea of "The One" is crime against human happiness. I do, however, I do believe we have a fantastically good relationship. I posted about my "selection" of Mr. Phizzle once here, you can check it out for details.

I suppose another way to think about this part of the question is "when did I decide he was right to marry?" That came....probably a few days after I accepted his marriage proposal. His proposal was a surprise. A. Total. Surprise. So, since we had been together for years, I accepted, and then as I thought about it....I realized that marrying him would probably be the smartest thing I could do with my life. He's smart, he's responsible, he would always take good care of me, he respects me, and I love him. He was good for me. And I was good for him. And we are good together. Now that we've been married a while, I know -- marrying him *was* the smartest move I've made thus far in my life.


AA: If you couldn't be a computer scientist (say that computers disappeared from the earth tomorrow), what else would you do with your self/time/career?

PD: Sometimes, I have nightmares that the world will go apocalyptic and suddenly, everything I am good for will be gone. So, let's hope computers don't disappear tomorrow! However, if I were to do something else with my life.....wow. I really don't know. I've always been very much a Renaissance person -- I'm kinda mediocre at and kinda like a ton of stuff. I'd read a lot of books. I used to wish my parents were rich and that they could buy me a room by the sea filled with books, and I'd just sit, read, and think, all day long for the rest of my life. Or I could take pictures. I like photography. I like arranging photographs into scrapbooks and such, though I haven't physically done so lately. I'd like to become an amazing cook. I'm not half bad now, but if I really had time I'd really get into that. Or I'd be a historian, anthropologist, or sociologist. I've always been very fascinated by people - in a macro scale though. I'm not quite as intellectually interested in individuals, only groups. Gosh, this has really been a useless, all over the place answer. I suppose that means I really don't know what I would do otherwise - which might be a good thing. If I had an answer at the ready for something else to do, would that imply that I am unhappy (or at least kind of dissatisfied) with what I am doing now?

AA: What was the most outrageous thing that you wanted to be/do/have when you were a child?

PD: Honestly, I have no idea. "be/do/have"....that's pretty broad, but really, I do not remember. Probably that my sister would disappear (she was such a brat back then!). Oh, or that I could be Evie Garland. I don't think I had any real career aspirations as a kid, anything that lasted at least. I was just a kid being a kid, didn't think about the future too much :).

AA: How do you imagine yourself 30-40 years from now?

PD: Wow. Um.....I think I imagine myself like my parents live now. Financially stable, happy, grown children, tons of friends, and lots of parties. I imagine that I'll be satisfied with what I've accomplished in life, as in love with Mr. Phizzle as ever, and happy and amiable in our companionship. I'll run half marathons, and I'll be hip, fit, and awesome.