WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? WHAT WAS YOUR PATH TO CAL?

I grew up in Fresno (which many people might not know is the raisin 
capital of the world). I figure that a bunch of farmers moved to Fresno 
hoping to make wine and realized that their grapes shriveled up way too 
quickly!

I think the more interesting part of my story is once I got to Cal. 
I came to Berkeley and had no idea what I wanted to study. A friend of 
mine talked me into taking CS61a, and then the next semester talked me 
into CS61b, and then the next semester talked me into CS61c. I figured 
that EECS was for people who were much smarter than me - but it turned 
out that I REALLY liked it. People always tried to tell me that I shouldn't 
be a computer scientist, because I am too "social" - but I couldn't be 
happier that I didn't listen to them.


HOW MUCH PROGRAMMING HAVE YOU DONE (& WHAT LANGUAGES)

I'm really excited about programming in Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/). 
This past summer I taught 50 - 6th graders to program in Scratch and they 
loved it! 

I did my undergrad in EECS here at Cal and I learned Scheme from Dan Garcia 
when I took CS61a from him in 2001. More recently I have been using Scheme 
and Java as a TA or instructor for cs3 or cs61b for the last 2 years.

In addition to learning some langugates in classes at Berkeley, I also worked 
as a programmer using Java, C and C++.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES

I love to play games: Mafia, Cranium, Set, Bridge and Clue-Museum Caper are 
my favorite 5 games and EVERYONE should know how to play! If you haven't heard 
of one or more of them - don't despair - we can play sometime!

I like to sew, bake, cook, sing in the car and dance!

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR TALENTS & SKILLS

I know how to moon walk! A very important skill - but very easy to learn!

I love american sign language (ASL). Berkeley Community College is actually a 
little hub for ASL - so you should definitely take advantage of their courses 
while you live here!


HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING REMARKABLE? HAS ANYTHING MEMORABLE HAPPENED TO YOU?

I had the opportunity to study abroad in London my 3rd year in college. It was 
the BEST experience. I filled my time while I was there traveling, cooking, baking 
and playing soccer (football). It was the best (and only) 10 month vacation of my life!


WHAT COMMITMENTS WILL BE CONSUMING YOUR CYCLES THIS SEMESTER?

I'm getting my Ph.D. in Education and my Masters in Computer Science so I'll be 
finishing up my Masters project that has to do with young students learning to
program in Scratch and Logo. I am also TAing the course for first time TAs, taking
a class about "conceptual change" and preparing for my qualifying exam in the Spring.