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"If I have seen farther than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Isaac Newton
"In the sciences, we are now uniquely priviledged to sit side-by-side with the giants on whose shoulders we stand." Gerald Holton "If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders." Hal Ableson "In Computer Science, we stand on each others' feet." Brian K. Reid |
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Who am I?
I'm a Computer Scientist. I'm a Java GUI developer. I'm an RPG-AS/400 programmer. I guess you could say I'm a geek. I don't mind the word, even kind of like it, although it sometimes surprises me how much the word is embraced these days by computer people. Maybe it's because it's the same word that was used to taunt and hurt us as children, and now that we're much richer and happier than any of those bullies, we enjoy taking it back. Claiming it for our own. It makes us part of a Secret Society -- which actually is not-so-secret anymore, since we are so highly valued and sought after these days.
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"The two most common things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." Albert Einstein
"Hydrogen isn't all that common." H. Ellison |
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In college, I studied computer science. We would joke that when we completed our degrees and got jobs, that would make us Professional Computer Scientists. I always liked to picture a huge crowd of people in some crisis situation, walking up and announcing, "Don't worry: I'm a Professional Computer Scientist." You know, something bad would happen somewhere, and the cry would go out, "For the love of God, somebody call a Computer Scientist!" I admit, it's a silly name for the degree program....but the good thing about my computer science studies at Amherst is that I learned not just how to program computers, but how to understand computers. It means that I am not constrained to my current skill-set -- in the computer world I can do anything, learn anything, and be competant at whatever I decide to focus on.
I think it was in 1995, working at New World Systems, that I first adopted the name Programming Goddess. I was filling out a test ID badge and somebody suggested it for the job title. It works, it aptly describes what I do and who I am, in that order. Now that I work at Titan they like to call me a Senior Systems Development Analyst, but we all know it really means Programming Goddess underneath.
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"It's no wonder that I can't relate to your world where only men are great." Susan Little
"There is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex. As well to speak of a female liver." Charlette Perkins Gilman |
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So I'm female, obviously. Girl, princess, woman, goddess, lady, diva, I don't really care what you call me so long as you do it nicely. As such, I'm a minority in technology. There are those who believe that my lack of a Y chromosome will affect my ability to work or think -- but really to say it will worsen or better things is to do women everywhere a disservice. It comes to this: we each must be judged by our own merits and skills, not by our gender or any other irrelevant detail. The fact that I'm female may mean that I will look cuter in a tank top than the guys in the office, but that's the only difference, and even that might not be true....