We have such good students

I have to admit, I'm just a bit biased when it comes to our students.  We have such good students.  I've said that many times, in many circumstances.  Good, as in smart; good, as in hardworking; good, as in being really good people.  I love seeing and hearing about our alumni, and what they are up to these days.  Seeing an article about one of our grads was what pushed me back to this blog, after I took some time away for family. 

In today's local paper, there's an article about Tilt.  Tilt is still fairly new to Blacksburg, but has several other locations.  One of our grads is the director of engineering for the Blacksburg location, which is being called "Tiltsburg."  Check out what Ian Good and Brian Hartsock, both grads of our department, are doing at Tilt.

While you're at it, read about Blacksburg's own TechPad.  Tilt is located there now and you can see  the growing list of companies that have moved on from TechPad.

In the article about Tilt, the Roanoke Times mentioned another one of our grads.  Hayden Lee was the president of the VT Entrepreneur Club and I sent out announcements for him to our students several times.  He's now part of a start up called CONVRGE.  As someone who used IRC in the early 90s and was excited to try AIM when it came out, this looks pretty cool.  Read more about Hayden and this really neat startup. 

Life and other distractions

I knew it had been a while since I had posted anything on my blog, but I didn't realize it had been since the end of September.  This year has been a rough one.  Someone recently said "your year has been a singular, bad experience.  I'm sure you hope it won't be repeated."  I can only hope so.  From the little to the big, things have not gone well this year.  I've lost my dad, a best friend, and several pets.  Trying to find perspective has been a constant challenge this year.  I've said several times that I'm sure it sounds stupid, but you never really know how much you'll miss someone until they are gone.  That's really been true for me, as there are so many things that I associated with my dad and my friend Jenn. 

I'm not sure that there is anything "normal" in anyone's life.  Trying to find a new "normal" seems almost like searching for the Holy Grail.  Mom told me this morning that this is the first Christmas since she was 14 years old that my dad hadn't been with her.  I don't think there is a new normal for her or for the rest of us.  I think it's just life and you do the best you can.

I'm going to try to get back to blogging about things that matter to me.  It's something I enjoy and maybe it can help me find a new "normal."  

First world problems and being thankful

This morning, I stepped out the door into a deluge of rain. After very little rain in the past couple of months, we've gotten multiple inches of rain in the last 5 days.  As soon as I started down my steps, I got drenched even though I had a gold umbrella.  My first thought was "Man, I sure wish I had been able to sell my condo and buy something with a garage".  The thoughts of selling the condo and moving elsewhere are tied up with where I'm going to be, which is tied to the current twilight zone issues with my current job, and whether or not I'm staying at VT.  This was what was on my mind on my way to work and while I was slogging up the hill to McBryde Hall to my job.  I get to work early so that I can read headlines and catch up on the news before I get started at work. 

I happened to see an article on WDBJ7 about Virginia Tech opening a "Campus Kitchen" to help provide meals to people in need in out community.  VT is actually the 48th campus to start doing this.  Read more about this nationwide student driven initiative. 

The next website I clicked over to was the Roanoke Times.  One of the headlines was "Virginia Tech, UVa among schools joining effort to revamp admissions process".   One of the goals of this project is to encourage more students to start considering college earlier in their high school careers.  According to the article, "the new tools also are intended to streamline application and financial aid processes as a way to reduce barriers for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who often fail to receive all the consideration and financial aid they are due, the coalition said." 

At that point, I felt like a slime for being mad about not having a garage.  There are much worse things than not having a garage: not having food, not being able to get an education, and not knowing when your family member will be back on their feet again.  A high school friend's daughter has been in a horrible accident, has been in the hospital and ICU for a few weeks, and may be there many more weeks.  From there, it will be on the rehab.  They just set up a GoFundMe account, if you are able to donate. 

I kept hearing the phrase "first world problem." That sounds a lot better than "whiny ingrate issue."

Campus Safety: Charging stations and uBeam

In the Sunday Roanoke Times, there was an article called "Last call, last charge."  In Blacksburg, Champs Sportsbar & Café became the first bar/restaurant to install a $4K charging station from GoCharge.  This is part of an initiative with "No Hokie Left Behind," trying to keep students (and citizens) safe.  The stations will allow charging of iPhones and Android smartphones.

Shortly after reading that, I saw an article in Fortune Magazine about Meredith Perry and uBeam.  She is working toward creating "wireless charging at a distance."  According to the article, she has a working prototype which investors have seen.  How long before we might be hearing more about uBeam? 

Campus safety is something that pops into my mind quite often.  Working at Virginia Tech, working with college students, talking to young women, hearing things "through the grapevine," and many other things trigger those thoughts. 

It would be wonderful if we lived in a world where these types of things weren't needed, but they are.  Who knows how these technologies might avert a tragedy?  Being able to charge your phone might not seem like a life or death matter, but it could be.   Wireless charging might be the future of technology, but for now, charging stations could be a lifesaver. 

A fan of the Google Doodles? Try making a dress with code

I always enjoy the Google Doodles.  That has to be a really cool job: designing the daily Google Doodle.  Today's Google Doodle is "Made with Code."  The hook is "Create, code, shine. Design a Fashion Week Dress with Made with Code."

I just designed a wearable tech dress in about 2 minutes flat.  Pretty cool. 

 

Back to school again

My status update on Facebook on August 24 mentioned it being the start of the 16th year I have been in the CS department at the beginning of an academic year.  I was thinking back to when I started as an undergrad.  I was so nervous and didn't feel like I knew what I was doing.  I can remember going the week before classes and buying my textbooks and like a total noob, bought brand new books thinking new = best.  I walked my schedule to make sure I knew where everything was so at least I wouldn't be a lost noob. 

I found my English Comp classroom which had a couple of people sitting inside.  I was standing in the doorway and one of the people asked if I needed anything.  I asked "are you the teacher for this classroom?"  I remember them looking at me like an idiot, but I didn't know that faculty had offices and taught in whatever classroom was available. 

I've written about finding confidence as a musician, but I certainly didn't have it as a brand new freshman.  Hindsight is 20-20, but I wonder what I could have done if I'd felt more like I belonged just like I thought everyone else did.  I tell our students to jump in and try different things, but I didn't do that.  One of the reasons I encourage students to try new things is how do you know what you are good at, if you've never even tried it? 

I've always loved being a student.  My "to read" list is growing longer and longer.  I love learning new things and trying to make things better.  I wish I could go back and give my 17 year old self a pep talk.  Most likely, many of the other students were nervous and unsure of themselves, too.  They might have been first generation students too, feeling the pressure to make sure that they did everything perfectly, to prove the naysayers wrong.  Trying to find enough time in the day to practice for three different ensembles and for individual lessons on piano and percussion, while doing my other course work.  And doing all of that while commuting.

I never really felt like I had "it all together" while I was a student.  Looking back, I think I had it together a lot more than I thought I did. 

Life: Guns, hate, and evil

When I get to work in the morning, I normally listen online to Q99's Breakfast Club with Dick Daniels and David Page, at least until everyone else gets there, around 8:00 a.m.  This morning, they mentioned that there was a story about a shooting near Smith Mountain Lake while a local news crew was filming a live spot.  They had seen it posted on Facebook and that's where I looked.  Someone had posted the video, which I think is still available online.  It looks like a normal live shot, panning over the area, and coming back around to the reporter, Alison Parker, and the lady she was interviewing.  Then you hear gunfire and all I can remember hearing is the young reporter screaming and shrieking.  Finding out later that she and her cameraman were killed and that most likely, their last moments on earth were filmed and so many people had seen it?  Those moments, so filled with terror.

I'm not a fan of guns.  Never have been and don't imagine I ever will be.  I'm not against people having guns for protection or hunting, but when someone tries to argue that having an arsenal's worth of weapons or that owning semi-automatic or completely automatic weapons are their 2nd Amendment rights, I have to strongly disagree.  I saw enough guns on April 16th to last me a lifetime.

Even if you're not local, you've probably heard about the two journalists killed today during a live interview on a morning program.  I really feel for the anchor, Kimberly McBroom, who was watching and listening live, to hear and see what happened to her colleagues.  (Kimberly McBroom (née Shifflett) was a childhood friend in elementary school.) 

I read that the young cameraman, Adam Ward, who was killed chose to come to VT, starting his freshman year in August after the April 16th shootings.  He graduated from VT, went out into the world, and ended up being killed by someone who seems to have idolized the VT shooter.

I'm sure there will be (again) a debate on gun control and better safe guards to keep the mentally ill from getting access to weapons.  But my personal opinion is that this shooter was not mentally ill.  He was just plain evil and full of hate.  He idolized the VT shooter, who also seemed to find someone to hate and blame everywhere he went?  How do you keep guns out of the hands of someone who is just plain evil? 

My mom mentioned that WDBJ had a police presence today, to make sure that their employees were safe.  I reminded her that we had that, too, on April 16.  We were escorted through the building and passed off to another officer at the exit.  I wonder how many of you have been escorted away from your place of work, which might also be the scene of a mass shooting by a SWAT officer? 

After that, my sister asked me if I couldn't find a job "somewhere safer"?  Even then, I asked her exactly where she felt safe.  In the years since, there have been shootings at "on your corner" political events, an elementary school, movie theaters, an historically black church .... and which ones have I left out?  The ones that fade into the ether because there are just so many of them? 

You can regulate who has guns.  You can label people as mentally ill.  But the one thing you cannot label or regulate is hate.  Hate is its own contagion, building within someone.  How in the world do you attempt to fix hate?  How do you recognize those that are so full of hate that all they can do is blame everyone around them?  What can anyone do?

Please keep the victims' families and friends in your thoughts and prayers.  Don't give the shooter one more second of your thoughts. 

Coding bootcamps: the way to increase diversity?

I saw this link published by Fast Company about diversity in coding boot camps.  I finally had a chance to read the article and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.  All STEM fields could use some help in recruiting a more diverse student population, but is this the way to do it?

Given, I've not clicked through most of the links to each of the different boot camps to see what it is they are promising, but at the cost of $11K, the one amount I do remember reading from the article, for less than a year of training, sure does sound like a scam.  Of course they can find companies to underwrite scholarships and financial aid to help traditionally underrepresented students, but how well prepared are they?  When the tech bubble burst and the media reported that all the good technology jobs were getting outsourced, there wasn't an asterisk to the story describing exactly what those "good" jobs were.  After several years, companies and agencies were starting to "on-shore" jobs that had previously been sent elsewhere.  Coding can be taught, but learning how to solve problems, think creatively, and having a strong mathematical background isn't quite as easy to teach in weeks or months. 

I'm always leery of some "new big thing" that feels the need to throw others under the bus.  I'd also like to have a crystal ball to see how well these code camp graduates are doing further down the road and if their background is sufficient to progress in a career.  I just have to wonder if these "boot camps" saw a need and slapped a shingle up, trying to make a buck off of the latest hot trend.  In the long run, though, they may be doing a great disservice to those trying to find a career. 

Broadway, Politics, and Diversity

I've not been to NYC in a couple of years, but I keep an eye out for what's hot on Broadway, the Met, and the Metropolitan Museum.  I'd heard that Hamilton was the hot ticket on Broadway right now, but couldn't quite grasp how it could be.  Then, I read an article in The Hollywood Reporter by Lin-Manuel Miranda (as told to a writer) talking about how Hamilton came to be.  It's an interesting read, if you are interested in Broadway, but also for lots of other reasons.  I'm always amazed by creativity and reading how this musical came about was interesting.  Miranda also talks about diversity and politics, and how Hamilton is relevant in our current political climate. 

A quote from the end of the article: "Art engenders empathy in a way that politics doesn't, and in a way that nothing else really does. Art creates change in people's hearts. But it happens slowly."

In the news: CodeVA - teaching students and teachers

The Sunday Richmond Times-Dispatch had an article talking about CodeVA.  It describes how CodeVA is trying to help attract more students to computing.  If you weren't sure about the need for more computing professionals, read this just published article from Google/Gallup.

When someone asks how our department has made progress in recruiting and retaining a more diverse student body, there's not just one thing that we can point to as "the one" thing that works.  It takes a lot of effort, financial support, and staffing resources.  CodeVA is trying to encourage students, but is also helping to train teachers. 

To borrow a cliché: it takes a village.  Check out CodeVA's to see how they are contributing to the efforts. 

Want to be on TV? America's Greatest Makers

From Intel's "America's Great Makers" competition webpage:

America's Greatest Makers (working title) is coming to television in 2016. Are you ready to build the next truly amazing device? Bring your big ideas to life with Intel, in collaboration with Mark Burnett, United Artists Media Group, and Turner Broadcasting System.

For your chance to be on America's Greatest Makers (working title), submit a video to tell us a little about yourself and your idea, and why you want to be part of the challenge.

All entrants must be legal residents of the United States, 15 years of age or older. Entrants under 18 years of age must provide parental or legal guardian consent. Each team is limited to four core members or fewer. When submitting your team's information, please specify one point of contact only. Ideas that center around small form-factor smart devices that do not require video/camera functionality are preferred.

Interested?  Check it out.

In the news: It's the little things

I read Dan Casey's column today about public school teachers buying supplies out of pocket for their students.  Friends know about my excitement over new "school supplies," which I really should call "office supplies" at my age. 

I donate to charity when I can.  My friends would know that normally means animal organizations, supporting the welfare and adoption of furry critters.  One of my hidden talents is being a guinea pig whisperer. 

Each year, the university does a school supply drive in late July/early August.  I've always thought about how excited I was for a new year of school once I got my new Trapper Keeper, Lisa Frank stickers, and cute magnets for my locker. At that age, it never occurred to me that other students didn't always have that option.  My parents weren't wealthy, but I always had new school supplies each year.  The more I've worked at a university, the more often I think about opportunities and how some students just don't have the advantages of others.  And what obstacle, small or large, will be the one thing that causes them to finally give up?

At what age do kids start noticing that they aren't "like" other kids?  When do they start noticing that they don't have the new notebook or a brand new pack of pencils?  When they realize that they don't have a decent pair of socks or shoes?  In the column today, it mentioned how teachers were buying basic necessities for their students which went much further than school supplies.  They are buying socks and toothbrushes.  It wasn't mentioned, but I suspect that would also include things like winter coats. 

School is hard enough, but can you imagine what it would feel like to not even have the basic necessities to get through the day?  At what point do kids give up?  And if they give up early on, what happens to their future? 

I had a quick conversation with one of our faculty members yesterday.  We talked about student motivation and how some students seem to be willing to hang in there when a lot of others would give up.  I wish I could bottle that motivation and distribute it.  Finding motivation, confidence, and your voice .... all three things I've thought a lot about over the last year or so.

If you want to help out the teacher mentioned in the column, she has a GoFundMe page at:  www.gofundme.com/backtoschoolsmiles.

About those "soft skills"

When our students have a chance to ask industry vets "what is one area in which all technical students can use improvement," the answer is almost always this: "soft skills."  We've always warned high school students "don't neglect your English courses."  It's also why most CS programs require a public speaking course and additional higher level writing courses.  It would be a rare tech job that did not involve speaking with others, working in a team, or writing up documentation.

For college students trying to improve their soft skills and be more competitive in the job market, try these tips from Forbes.

In today's news: Team of Virginia Tech students makes history in space

During the past week, I've seen several stories about a Virginia Tech team that was working on a project to test 3-D printing in space.  Why would you want to do 3-D printing in space?  When something breaks on the international space station, wouldn't it be nice if the astronauts could just print the needed part rather than arrange for it to be shipped to them, which would take how long and cost how much? 

The student quoted in this article, Sebastian Welsh, is a rising senior in computer science at Virginia Tech.  It was pretty cool to see that the VT logo that was printed during their experiment. 

Read more about this project:

Roanoke Times

VT News

3D Printing Industry

WSLS

Best intentions and life

I started this blog with the intention of writing at least one post a day, not just loading up a queue to make sure something appear every day.  What is the saying about planning what you are going to do and then God laughs?  I certainly hope that God isn't laughing about our current situation. 

I was born "late in life" for my parents or at least, at the time, I was considered late.  My mom was 34 and my dad was 38 when I was born.  I do have a brother and sister, but they are both older than I am.  At my current age, ahem in my 40s, that makes my mom and dad 77 and 80, respectively.  My dad has worked manual labor jobs all of his life and was still working at age 80 until he got the Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer diagnosis.  For someone who hated doctors and wouldn't tell you if anything was bothering him, he certainly has seen more than his fair share of doctors and specialists, with everyone asking him how he feels and what his diagnosis is. 

For the past 10 days, dad has been in the hospital.  After taking chemo and still working for several months, he hit what I'm calling a speed bump (I'll hope that is all that it is, but only time will tell).  It was about a month ago when they decided to try a type of "cryotherapy" or "Cryoablation" to try to freeze away some of the tumor.  Ever since he got out of that procedure, he has been feeling a lot worse.  He's not worked in over a month and he mostly sleeps, which is what he's doing now as I'm typing.  For several weeks, we took him to different doctors and the ER, but only got different variations of "he's 80, he has cancer, and he's taking chemo, what do you expect?". I expect the doctor to listen to what is being said and offer some kind of suggestion or explanation as to why dad is going down hill so quickly.  He's not been able to get down and keep down much of anything, and we're concerned that he's losing weight and has no energy.

After many weeks of that, his oncologist came back from an overseas trip and admitted him to the hospital.  The blood work showed that dad was dehydrated and malnourished. It's really hard to think about how hungry he was and that he would have slowly starved to death if something hadn't been done. 

My question about all this: what happens to someone who doesn't have anyone advocating for them?  Someone who keeps bugging the doctors and trying to get someone help?  Is this the way we treat the elderly and others who cannot speak for themselves?  There has to be a better way. 

I heard recently that a supervisor said to an employee that "your family and personal life shouldn't get in the way of your job."  I'm not sure how that's possible, unless you hire single orphans who have no outside interests.  Do we live to work or work to live? 

From today's Roanoke Times: the Tuxedo Pandas are going to the World Robotics competition

Members of the Tuxedo Pandas FIRST Lego team have been invited to the World Robotics championship in Shanghai, China.  From the Roanoke Times article: "FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is described as the 'varsity sport for the mind,' and promotes a variety of design and engineering themed contests for students ages 6 through 18, according to the website www.usfirst.org."

These students have a lot of fun while learning.  Here's wishing them the best in their fundraising efforts!

Technology and baseball

I'm always intrigued by creativity.  I think it's really interesting to see what kind of ideas another person can come up with.  Normally, I wouldn't read an article that was about baseball.  I admit, there's only one sport I like to watch or read about: college football.  Go Hokies!  The latest issue of the Hollywood Reporter has Derek Jeter on it.  Why would I read an article about Derek Jeter? 

The article is about Jeter's "next step" after retiring from baseball.    He's started something called the Player's Tribune.  It's an interesting idea and I doubt I would have known an out it otherwise.  The article mentions that he has a foundation that provides programs for young people in New York, Kalamazoo, and Tampa, Fl.  His foundation recently partnered with the StopIT cyberbullying app.

But back to the original question, why would I be reading about Derek Jeter?  Seven years ago, he was one of the New York Yankees who played an exhibition game in Blacksburg.  The things I remember about that game?  Seeing those big names flash up on the screen when they came up for their at bat.  Jeter, Rodriguez, Giambi.  I remember seeing  them hanging out in the dugout with the Hokie players.  I also remember thinking "they should have let the Hokies score at least one run."  The final score was 11-0.

Good luck with your next steps Mr. Jeter.

From today's Roanoke Times: Coders to use skills to help Roanoke organizations

Hackathons started popping up around the country several years ago.  The first ones we announced to our students were small and focused on a particular topic.  There are still some smaller ones sponsored by a company or organized around a central them, but there are also very large events that draw college students from all over the country. 

Here's the article I wrote about one of our PhD grads winning the Hokie Health Code-A-Thon back in 2012.  Dr. Hussein Ahmed and his wife, Dr. Samah Gad, are now the founders of Transpose.

Hackathons can do a lot of good when they have a focus.  Consider helping out the folks at Noke Codes.

The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM

Here is a great summary about the different biases women face in STEM.  Joan Williams is also one of the co-authors of "What Works for Women at Work."  When I heard Joan Williams speak at the NCWIT Summit this year, she mentioned a term: "office housework."  I've been trying to research where and when that particular phrase came into existence.  Any ideas?

Needless to say, I've done a lot of "office housework" which seems to be one of the easiest things to overlook in terms of performance evaluation.  It reminds me of something I read in Fast Company in the "Obama and His Geeks" article.  When discussing how to assess if Obama and His Geeks are successful, Mikey Dickerson (Administrator, U.S. Digital Service) pointed out this year's open-enrollment season for Healthcare.gov.  This year's enrollment went smoothly, which was in stark contrast to the disastrous roll out of the webpage.  Dickerson says "'That's a big accomplishment, but we don't have any coverage of it because there's nothing to say.  The train wreck didn't happen.  We're proud of that.'" 

Do you have to let the disasters happen to be truly appreciated?

Wearable robots?

I read quite a few scholarship applications throughout an academic year.  I read applications from our own returning students for our annual scholarship process.  I also help read a portion of incoming freshman applications as service to our College of Engineering.  When asked a fairly open ended question about what technology they would like to use, be a part of, or create in the future, there's a wide variety of answers.  Of course, there are always submissions about how video games can change the world, but there are many other responses.  I've also read a large number of applications talking about biomedical engineering and creating prostheses.

For an interesting read about one company making wearable robots, see this article about Ekso Bionics, which was printed in the July 20, 2015 Roanoke Times business section.

Students selecting different majors during a recession

In the Sunday, July 26, issue of the Roanoke Times was an article titled "Shift in majors spikes during recession, study says."  This was a reprint of an article in the Chicago Tribune.  The original article has additional information, including charts showing the increases and decreases in particular majors and further breaks down that information by gender.

What particularly stood out to me was the following: "Researchers infer that these students can earn a degree in science, technology, engineering and math but chose not to in times of stronger labor markets."

I've always thought there were many students who could pursue and complete a degree in STEM, but for whatever reason didn't.  Ideally, students should follow their passions, but they should also consider their future career options, satisfaction in employment, and earning potential. 

Finding my voice - Part 1

Do you believe in signs? 

1. I ate dinner at Panera tonight, waiting for choir practice to start.  (I fill in as a pianist for one of my co-workers at her church.)  I was reading "What Works for Women at Work" (highly recommended and will be mentioned in my blog many times, I'm sure), specifically a sub-chapter on "Finding Your Voice" at work.  
2. After I played for the first part of choir practice and was getting ready to leave, the choir director asked me to stay and sing with them.  I apologized and said "You really don't want me to sing.  It would truly and only be a joyful noise."  
3. On the drive home, I heard Katy Perry's "Roar" on the radio. I do admit to singing in the car and that's one of my favorites to sing along to.  I came back through campus because that's the shortest route with the least amount of traffic lights.  I think I scared some of the new freshmen and their parents who are here for Orientation.  Singing in the car is great until you remember you left the windows down.

All signs point towards blogging about finding my voice.

It became very important to me to find my professional voice, especially over the last 16 months.  To find my professional voice, I also had to find my professional confidence.  Confidence is a funny thing.  I've had a lot of friends over the years tell me to "fake it until you make it," but it's hard to fake something that you've never felt.  I've thought to myself many times that I would be much better off if I could only live my life as if I am the person my friends think I am.

The strange thing for me is that I've had confidence as a musician for a very long time, but when did that happen? I can't tell you when it happened precisely, but it feels like it's been there most of my life.  Of course, I started piano lessons at 7 and did my first recital shortly thereafter.  I started playing drums in 6th grade.  (Future blog post: how that came about and the strange connection it had 10 years later.)  In 6th and 7th grade, playing drums in band wasn't hard because we were all new and learning things together.  Plus, I met one of my best friends who also happened to be a girl playing drums, so I wasn't the only one.  It got more difficult when I joined marching band in 8th grade.  I was the only girl in the drum line and as I would come to learn, some drummers are jerks.  Some, not all.   I'm sure you can imagine the stupid, and sometimes vulgar, things that teenage boys can do with drumsticks.  Why put up with that?  Because I was good at it and I got a lot of reinforcement that being a musician was "the thing" that I was good at.

When I got to college, it was very similar to starting 8th grade again.  Back to being the new kid on the block and having to prove that I actually knew what I was doing.  Again, there were jerks, but also there were some really cool guys that I'm still friends with and try to visit fairly often.  It took about 2 years to gain some respect from the jerks and I only knew it then because they started incorporating me into their razzing of the newbies.  (Musicians inside joke.  The guys would point me out to the newbies and say "Man, stay away from her.  She taught drum line for the Cadets.")

When I ended up staying for graduate school, after having the late in my college career revelation that high school teaching wasn't for me, I really wasn't sure what career I might be heading towards.  Possibly a PhD, but very possibly not.  As an MA student in music, you needed to do a thesis or a graduate recital to satisfy degree requirements.  I decided to do both, but I'm not exactly sure how I came to that decision at the time.

My first year of grad school was rough for me, for lots of reasons; I certainly can't say that preparing a thesis and a graduate recital made that any better.  But somehow, I did it.  And after some of the jerks were complimentary about my performance (which they all attended), I remember thinking "I must have finally done it.  I've shown them I could do it." 

Looking back on it, I'm not sure how I did it all.  I had to have the confidence in my abilities as a percussionist to even consider doing a recital on top of a thesis.  And to have my musician's voice, to speak up and say "I'm going to do this."

Over the last 16 months, I've had to find my professional voice and confidence, when I never even thought about it that way.  When I thought confidence, I thought, "Yep, I'm a good musician, but other than that.....?"  How do I take my musician's confidence and voice, and transfer it to other parts of my life? 

More of the same, but then...

More of the same, but then, there's a ray of hope.  One of my best friends works at Industrial, Light & Magic / Lucasfilm.  She even gave my colleague and I a tour when I was in California in May 2014. 

She shared an article with me from Variety, that talks about the Academy Awards Science and Technology Awards.  Why mention it to me?  At the awards event, only one woman was amongst the 59 the winners.  Based on the article that the University of Utah published, she got her MS in computer science in 1998.  Congratulations to Colette Mullenhoff!  I know I'll be looking for her name in movie credits in the future. 

Know a girl aged 10 to 18? Suggest 100 Girls of Code

A company in Blacksburg, Modea, has started the New River Valley chapter of 100 Girls of Code.  They are looking for 100 girls to attend their first event.  The event is free and open to all girls 10 to 18.  Register at: http://www.100girlsofcode.com/new-river-valley-va.html.

Nominate a young woman as a Champion of Change

Reposting this from the Aspirations Coordinators Page of Facebook, originally posted by Ruthe Farmer:

In September, the White House will recognize young women who are already leading and inspiring their communities as advocates, peer-mentors, artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs as Champions of Change.

The Champions of Change event will highlight new leaders. Many girls, including those from underrepresented communities, aspire to leadership. Many, in fact, already see themselves as problem-solvers, particularly in their families. But they may not always see themselves as leaders. By showcasing young women leading change in their communities and influencing others—while remaining themselves—this event will uplift their efforts and also inspire other young women to recognize that they too can engage leadership in their own way and in their own style.

These young leaders will have created programs, sponsored events, or created products that provide affirmative visibility and often the extra encouragement that enables girls to stay in school, honor their bodies and their minds, and reach higher by navigating pathways to college and careers. Each of these Champions appreciates that a struggling girl may be just one mentor away from success.

Accordingly, we are interested in Champions who can also share their own stories of the teacher, coach, pastor, or relative who guided her and stimulated the ethic that true leadership occurs through service.

We’re calling on you to help us identify young women who are making a difference in their communities and leading the way by nominating individuals that make a positive difference in the lives of young women in the following categories:

• Mentorship: Do you know a young woman who is empowering her community by offering mentorship and leadership to other young women?
• Education: Do you know a young woman whose passion is to help girls or her peers succeed in school or seek higher education?
• Innovators and Entrepreneurs: Do you know a young woman who is leading by example – through innovation and entrepreneurship?
• Advocacy: Do you know a young woman who has helped her community to thrive by advocating for her peers?
• Arts and Technology: Do you know a young women who is using the arts and technology in the service of empowering her community?

Nominate a Champion of Change for Young Women Empowering Communities by Wednesday, July 29 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Click https://m.whitehouse.gov/champions/nominate to submit your nomination (be sure to select “Young Women Empowering Communities” as your theme of service).

A fun way to learn to code

Scratch is a good way to learn programming concepts. I particularly liked the "Dragon Walk Cycle" example.  I first learned about Scratch (and tried it out) at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2010.

Scratch is a free download. Try it out.

Encouraging students to try STEM and college

Whatever your political leanings, I'm sure there are some politicians you like and others you don't.  I've always liked Mark Warner, but I really appreciated him more after hearing him speak at commencement at Virginia Tech in 2012.  He was down to earth, talking about his failures (i.e. "couch surfing" with friends while trying to make it) and how it took those failures to get him where he is today.  Of course he was somewhat upstaged by Michelle Obama, who also gave a great speech, but I can remember more of his speech than hers.

I saw this on my Facebook feed yesterday, posted by Mark Warner: "One proposal to help poor student gets to college."  I know there are a lot of initiatives to encourage students to get dual enrollment credits and associates' degrees while in high school, to save money and to get a jump on college.  As someone who has worked with college students for 20+ years, I could write a long post on why that may not always be a great idea.  But this idea I like.  Being a first generation college graduate myself, this would have been a wonderful opportunity for me.  I still get grief from some members of my family about "all that education you have," like it is some kind of bad thing. (For those of you who know me and my vehicle will probably have a better understanding of why I have the vanity plates on my car.)

I'm for anything that will give students the boost of confidence they need just to try, which leads to a story in the news today.  Tomorrow's Tech Stars Sound Off on Why Silicon Valley Should Embrace Diversity.  As I've told many computer science students, I don't have a background in computer science, but I do know what it feels like to be the only girl in the room.  As a music education major in college, my primary instrument was percussion.  I was quite often the only girl in the room, the ensemble, or in the audition waiting area.  I can still remember the excitement of being first chair snare drum in All County Band, only to show up and have none of the guys talk to me and at times, literally push me aside.  That's when it comes in really handy to have a local middle school band teacher, a percussionist himself, step in and explain that the first chair decides who plays what parts and when.  He stepped in when I really needed some support and made a big difference to me, which kept me moving forward as a musician. Thank you Bill Ray, retired BMS band teacher.

For me, I'm just stubborn enough to hang in there and keep trying.  I can still hear the phrase "You're trying to get better than your upbringing," ringing in my head and how much it bothered me to hear it.  20+ years later and I can now say, "But isn't that a good thing?"

A computer that cooks, using drones to help and teaching computing with everyday objects

I read a lot.  Magazines, journals, novels, non-fiction, and news, both online and off.  I really hate when you read something interesting and then can't find it again. Hopefully, I can keep track of some of those things on my blog.

Things in the news yesterday:

Former Apple Engineers build a 'computer that cooks' -- I'm not sure that the article convinces me that this is something that is necessary, but is interesting in the grand scheme of the "Internet of Things."

First drone package delivery completed with Virginia Tech assist -- Using technology to help others, especially those in hard to reach places.  WDBJ7 also ran a story on the drone delivery, giving the example of someone needing insulin during a bad snow storm.  Previous option for delivery: National Guard troops delivering it on foot.

How to Introduce Computing with chalk, tape, and a hard surface -- NCWIT has a lot of great resources.  This is a lesson plan for how to teach sorting using everyday objects. 

What can you do with a 3-D printer?

What can you do with a 3-D printer?  How about print feet for a footless rooster?  Read more about it.

Reaching underrepresented students

On Facebook today, I saw the following retweeted by Anita Borg Institute: "Unequal access to technology and curriculum from early on creates ongoing disadvantage. Starting at the K-12 level, under-represented students are more likely to be in school districts lacking the resources for a rigorous computer science curriculum."

This was taken directly from an article by Dr. Caroline Simard entitled "Obstacles and Solutions for Underrepresented Minorities in Technology."

This is the fifth year for the Virginia/DC Affiliate of the Aspirations in Computing program, which encourages and awards high school girls for their aspirations in computing.  We get many applicants from Northern Virginia, and a fair number from other areas of Virginia, but very few from Southwest Virginia.  This is an award for aspirations in computing, not "what you've done in computing."  As co-chair of the VA/DC affiliate this year, I've made it my goal to reach as many schools in Southwest Virginia as possible.

The Aspirations application opens on September 1.  This is a nationwide program, with affiliates in most of the 50 states.  If you know a high school girl who has an interest in technology, encourage her to apply. 

Students creating apps for unique purposes

From the Roanoke Times, Saturday, July 11

Two CS@VT students and a George Mason University grad are creating apps and trying to start an LLC.  Their current app, Savr, is geared towards teenagers and young adults who are on tight budgets.  Look for the Savr App soon and see what else they come up with in the future.  Read more.

What is this blog about?

I've been in a bit of a twilight zone at work for a while, but I've used that time to think about what I like, what I'm good at, and areas where I've had success.  I've had a lot of conversations and there are some that stand out over the past few months.  One person said that "connecting the dots" is incredibly important.  I realized that that is something I enjoy and that I am good at doing.

So why write a blog?  There were several things in the past few weeks that stood out, where I was thinking "what can I do to help" and "is there a better way to share this?"  Some things that stood out:

• Talking with high school girls at an etiquette dinner our department sponsored, one of them mentioned that she had an interest in combining technology and the arts.  I said "I know someone you can talk to about that."
• Seeing a post on Facebook by a college friend, showing her middle school aged daughter at a local "Girls GetIT Camp."  I jumped in to comment about what a great time it is to be a CS major and all the fantastic things you can do with technology.  My friend wrote back asking for further info.
• Reaching out to incoming freshmen at Virginia Tech who are Aspirations winners.  Contacting them to get early semester events on their calendars, to get them connected with other young women majoring in computer science.
• Seeing students, at all levels getting, getting mentioned in the media for doing something interesting in technology. 
• Posting some of the articles and books on technology, creativity, and/or diversity that I've read that are encouraging, interesting, and worth a read.

I've been thinking for a long time that there are a lot of resources available for students at a variety of levels, but they aren't gathered into one place.  And if you don't know what you are looking for, where do you start?

Creativity, technology, diversifying and increasing the pipeline in STEM, connecting people to resources and sharing cool things in technology that students are doing.  That's where my blog starts: trying to connect the dots, one dot at a time. 

About me

When I was in school, the hardest part of the paper was the first paragraph.  I always found that if I just jumped in, I could get going.  So, here goes.

My name is Libby G. Bradford.  I work in the Computer Science Department at Virginia Tech.  I have a BM in Music Education, an MA in Music, and an MS in English.  How did I end up working with computer science students?  The short answer is that I did academic advising during grad school.  It was a big step out of my comfort zone, but I "fell into" a career that I really enjoyed.  I love the university environment and helping students.  When I started looking for my first full-time job after college, I looked at the universities in the area.  I ended up in the Registrar's Office at Virginia Tech and then, two years later, moved to the Computer Science Department.

During my 15+ years with CS@VT, I've had the opportunity to learn and try a lot of things.  Several things that stood out early on:

1. As a discipline, CS has a lot of work to do in diversifying the pipeline.  Diversity in terms of many things: gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc.
2. The pipeline itself needs to be much larger, to be able to fill the many job openings in technology.  These job openings are plentiful and well-paying.  See the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all kinds of numbers on careers, projected job openings, and salary info.
3. My own background coming out of high school would have made me very competitive to enter the College of Engineering at VT.  In my case, no one ever suggested that as a possibility.  

Every now and then I wonder "what if?"  What if I had tried engineering and what about current students who could make really good engineers and computer scientists, but haven't been encouraged to consider it?  There are a lot of really good students who could do well in engineering, but who is going to encourage them? 

Hopefully, I am.