"Today was a good day..."

Hey all out there in cyber world!

Despite my feeling under the weather for at least the past week, things are finally starting to look up - what has turned things around for me good you ask? Let me fill you in...

First, today is my beautiful Mom's birthday. She hates taking picture so I don't have many recent ones of here but here's an old one that I love ever so much!

Today she turned 56 and doesn't look a day over 30. My sister and I sent her flowers and candy, which made her happy (one of my favorite things to do). I hate that I can't see her for her birthday often but I know (and she knows) it's for good reason and won't be this way forever. One of the many reasons I love her and my dad - so understanding :).

The other reason for my cheer pertains to my research. Though I've been making progress, sometimes slower progress than I would like, I have continued to feel like I'm not making the kind of progress I need to be making. Especially since I haven't conducted a study in over a year -- just been paper writing and coding. Now, I know at some point there is a transition from advised researcher to independent researcher but as it seems to draw near I continue to second guess not only my own abilities but the overall ability for me to successfully attain my PhD. I have a great advisor that does all he can in any given situation to help me be successful and make my way to becoming an independent research -- including reminding me from time to time that I'm not as much of a n00b as I like to sometimes make myself feel.

Last time I met with my advisor he had a few concerns regarding the work I'm doing...we called them "terrifying questions" that need to be answered before I move forward with planning for my oral proposal. I've been running my prototype on various repositories over the past couple of days and from what I could tell things looked promising...but the true test is feedback from the advisor. I won't bore you with the gory details but long story short the meeting concluded with him telling me "I'm now less terrified." Now, this may not seem like much but the questions I had to answer dealt with data, so they were pretty damn terrifying! But, after looking at what I did and the data I gathered, he was convinced *so far* that things will go as we'd like them to. Yay! :D

This all may seem like not so big a deal but please believe...big deal! I'm making progress and it's that much more likely I will finish in the year 2016. Future Dr. Johnson speaking... :)

Long time no speak :)

I'm baaaackkk (again)!

I was just updating my website and when I looked at the link to my blog I thought, "Brittany, people look at your website, which means people might click this link. Either update it, or get rid of it." Anyone who  knows me knows I'm somewhat of a hoarder so of course I decided to keep and update it :)

I won't do massive info dump like I did last time I went MIA, but I will give some high level highlights/details that will serve as the basis for blog posts following this one (which there will be!). I'm determined to post at least 3 times a week (and on special occasions of course).

Overall update, I'm currently finishing up the Fall semester of my 4th year; for anyone who doesn't know, that means I'm working to get the hell up out of grad school sooner than later! Currently I'm working towards getting my oral exam done soon - if you're curious about the research I'm working on right now, you can get more info here. I only took one class this semester (Teaching and Learning in CS) so my class load was super light meaning for the first semester I was able to focus on my research and building my brand. That involved making progress in my research as well as traveling and networking. Aside from going to Australia for the first time this summer to present my potential thesis work (:D), this semester I traveled to Michigan to the NextProf workshop to learn more about a career in academia and Arizona for Grace Hopper where I made more connections than I have in my past 5 years I've gone (including more connections at Microsoft, the importance of which I will discuss shortly). All in all, despite some set backs, this semester has been a successful one that I wish I could have described here in more detail!

I mentioned making connections at Microsoft; there is value in various dimensions here for me. For one, I was funded to attend Grace Hopper by a scholarship sponsored by Microsoft. This meant I was going to have ample opportunity to get my name out there and make connections of my own. My advisor has worked at Microsoft Research, so I've been able to make some connections through him; it was just nice to make some connections on my own :). Anywho, between the meals for scholars only and visiting the Microsoft booth at the career fair, I made a variety of connections, people that currently work and used to work at Microsoft and Microsoft Research. Part of building my brand, in my eyes, is getting experience doing research in a setting other than academia - my goal has been to do this at Microsoft Research for a summer internship. After such a successful trip to GHC, and encouragement from others, I submitted an application once I returned. I haven't heard back from MSR, however, I was contacted to interview for the Microsoft Azure team by someone I met at one of the GHC Microsoft events. I just had the interview Friday, which I think went well despite the fact that I am not actively looking for a development internship at the time. Even if I don't end up at MSR, I've made lifelong connections that have and hopefully will continue to benefit me as I move forward. The moral to this story -- networking is the key to success!! Never leave home not prepared to build your brand!

I said I wasn't going to do a dump, but it's looking more like one as I'm looking so I will bring this blog post to a close - until next time (which will be soon I promise)!

Don't call it a comeback!

Hello everyone in web world!!

It's been a while huh? Yeah, been super busy with school, research and just LIFE. But here I am to give some updates on my progress with my research, coursework. Hopefully I will at some point get into the habit of regularly updating this thing instead of every once in a while giving a "dump post" of everything I've been doing...

So to start, I'm taking 2 courses this semester (and research credits of course); CSC 791 (Software Engineering as a Human Activity) and CSC 512 (Compiler Construction). For anyone who has visited my website or knows my research interests they know that I LOOOVEEE the 791 class. This class reminds me a lot of a seminar on computing course I took in undergrad; each student has an individual and group presentation to give throughout the semester on an assigned reading for the class. Not only are the papers great but I can't recall one presentation that has been given that I can't say was at least borderline awesome. We also are required to conduct a human study of some sort and present tangible deliverables (mine will be a paper that I hope I will be able to submit to a conference or workshop). And it ties in nicely with my research I'm already doing, which is even better! Now, compilers on the other hand...not so much of a cake walk. This is the class that I NEED being that I will eventually be implementing a static analysis tool. The problem I'm having is the fact that this course is very work heavy (there's a lot of work involved in getting the material and completing the homework) and definitely not trivial. I enjoy the material theoretically but implementation wise there were quite a few barriers I had to overcome (and am still working to fully overcome). For example, the homework assignments have implementation parts (which were supposed to be collaborative ... tell you something?) which are written in C which I have little to no experience using. To make matters worse, I also have been teaching myself to use the technologies we're required to use (as the professor focused more on theoretical things in class than implementation and tools). So far I"m not feeling too optimistic about this class; we've had two homeworks so far, neither of which I've been able to finish. We had our midterm in the class the other day and I feel much more confident about it than I did with the homeworks but now we have a new homework assignment out and due and of course it includes more implementation stuff :/ . I'm trying to hang in there because I'm not a quitter and I know this is an extremely beneficial class to take ... it just stinks right now because all it's doing is making me question my abilities/qualifications as a programmer/software engineer...

On a more positive note, research has been going quite well (and as usual I love doing it so it makes things that much better :D ). I recently passed my qualifying exam (yay!) so that's very exciting! The next step in the process for me now is to complete my coursework and get started on my thesis for my oral prelim and then eventually my final defense. The paper that I used for my exam is currently being gutted and re-vamped to submit to SPLASH at the end of March so that's slowly but surely trucking along. In the nearer future, however, I have two camera-ready paper deadlines (yes, camera-ready meaning they've already been accepted somewhere). I will actually be presenting two papers at ICSE this year (if anyone recalls I presented a paper at ICSE last year for the Student Research Competition[SRC]); one for the SRC this year and the other is my first full technical paper! :D The final submissions of these are due over the next couple weeks so that's what I have been and will be focusing on but fortunately neither needed major modifications so the process has not been too stressful. The stress will come into play when I am working on the actual presentations (poster and powerpoints) and have to prepare to present them! I've been told my presentation style is improving but that still doesn't help much with the nerves that sometimes interfere with my conveying my data the way I intended to. I'm most nervous because ICSE is a pretty big deal and to be giving a full talk on a paper feels like a big thing -- I really don't want to mess up or disappoint the people that have been so supportive and helpful through all of this. That's the only thing that sucks about success - once you get it you want to strive to find that next big thing...and for me, the next big thing is knocking these presentations out the park. Particularly the SRC paper as last year I made it to the finals and did not place. I am determined to show what I can do and how much I love what I do. In the meantime, however, all I can do is practice and pray.

Well, those are the major updates that come to mind right now but of course I will be doing my best to keep this up to date as I think of things to write about. There are probably more tidbits I"m forgetting but I'll just have to create a new blog post for that (so maybe they can shrink a little).

Until next time... ;)

Frustration brought me here...

I'm freaking out right now...I shouldn't because it's completely unproductive but I decided to make my frustration productive by writing a blog about what I have done to cause myself grief.

So, I'm currently working on analyzing data for the first phase of my research - it was already a super slow process because of the volume of data we got (course assignments, mailing lists and projects that I had to analyze). Such that I could easily work from home on my own machine I installed a VM with Windows - I got Windows 8 because it's free through the school and I wanted to see how awesome it was - and installed the bare essentials. When I say bare essentials I mean Eclipse, Chrome and Notepad++ (well I guess I should have said my bare essentials..).  Once I got them installed, I decided to try analyzing my final set of projects on my VM - horrible idea. It's been working fine and then today, I get a wonderful error message concerning the memory being used - there isn't enough?! So, as I sit now I am unable to start my VM; let me tell you why this is bad...

1) I had already downloaded all 20 projects - and by downloaded I mean looked up which students could participate, went through a whole process to randomly select 20, went onto the course webpage to download all 20, and create anonymized projects in Eclipse for each.

2) I had already begun extracting data and putting together counts of everything I was finding (that file was also on my VM).

My only saving grace is that I put the detailed analysis on my Google Drive (thank you GDrive!) so I still have that - this gives me the few projects I did analyze. The issue here is that I still have to either figure out how to get my VM back up and running to get the projects and count file off my VM orrrr I will be re-downloading all the projects...which leads me to wonder whether I need to start over with a new bunch or if it's okay to keep the ones I've done and just randomly select the rest. I want to be optimistic and say I'll be able to get my VM running but I've been trying for a hot minute now with ZERO luck...so it doesn't seem promising.

So now, I am sitting here debating on whether I want to use the next few hours of productivity I think I have left in me tonight to figure out how to get this VM back up or re-downloading all these projects. It's probably to do what I know I can do rather than what I want to happen. And what makes it worse is I'm beating myself up about the fact that I put everything on my VM instead of putting it at least in a shared folder! It's one of those hard lessons learned - fortunately it's not a huge setback (although it really does suck)! Putting it up here definitely helps though - especially if I can help prevent someone else from making the same mistake on even more data!

So word to the wise, if you use a VM, make sure anything important is put into a shared folder. Don't make the same mistake I did!

Now, off I go to probably re-download and organize these projects...wish me luck!

Until next time (which will hopefully be sooner than later)...

Just some updates...

I'm right in the middle of working on some things (trying to feel productive for the day as I spent most of it incapacitated work wise) so I thought I would take a break and throw some updates on here while I'm thinking about it. Some of it is actually kinda exciting while some might make you think, okay Brittany you could have saved your time typing that, but sometimes it makes me feel better to get things out on here rather than bothering people (face to face) with it.

Update Number 1: Research is actually going pretty smoothly right now - the only thing left to do for the industry phase is get all the notifications together for the trial runs that we will be starting next week. I feel like I should have had this done by now but then I think about all the other things I've been working on simultaneously and the fact that it's just past midterms I feel a little better. We've already got three people officially scheduled next week and if worse comes to worse we can always start off with some of the notifications we used in the earlier trial runs until we can get more set up. I also need to do another test on our remote server with Camtasia for screen recording to make sure we're ready for remote trial runs as well. We initially tried using the free version, CamStudio, but we wound up having difficulties when we tried recording longer session (over 5-10 minutes). Being that our sessions will be at least 30 minutes, we definitely need something more reliable. One of our faculty advisors, Dr. Sarah Heckman, recommended Camtasia so here we are. If this works out and we can get some good notifications (that we can give scientific explanations for choosing) then we're cooking with hot oil and ready for the next steps! :D

Update Number 2: I am working on my NSF Fellowship application and in the process realizing that my previous essays were not too great. They weren't bad, but they definitely weren't as good as they could have been. I'm trying to get a head start on preparing them so that I can have plenty of time to proofread them (and have others look over them) before the submission deadline. I've finished my Previous Research essay and have passed it on to my advisor to proofread/give feedback. I'm not working on my Personal Statement which I plan to have done by the end of the week so I can get started on my Research Proposal and have that done by the end of next week (Oct. 22) giving me a couple weeks to finalize any thing before final submission November 13. Now the trick is to just stick to the plan...

Update Number 3 (although this should have been number 1!): I am a Godmother!! :D My cousin Andrea has been pregnant for what seems like forever and finally had her baby yesterday around 1:30 - Noah Mykel 7lbs 9oz.

This would be him and I at the hospital yesterday :)...I was so nervous to hold him I was sweating bullets (my first time holding a NEWLY new born). I had to make sure to wash my hands and everything. But he's so calm and handsome and happy and it makes me smile. I can't wait to watch him grow! :D

Update Number 4: The state fair starts tomorrow and I already have tickets! :D I would prefer to go during a weekday since it's less crowded but the beauty of already having tickets is A) I have freewill to choose whatever day I want to go, B) I won't have to wait in insane lines/pay insane prices for tickets to get into a gate, and C) did I mention they were cheaper?? Either way I'm super excited - especially since one of my old friends are trying to come down to go as well! Should be pretty awesome.

Well I guess it's back to productivity...until next time... <3

Time to get back at it!

Hello again - I know I said I would try to do better about updating my blog...and this is another attempt at re-starting an ongoing trend of updating my blog AT LEAST once a week. I have a few minutes right now as I just finished taking a test and am in much need a 'brain break'. What better way to have a 'brain break' than to update my blog with all the interesting things you all have missed? :)

Anywho, first order of business is to say that of course, school is back in session and BOOMING. I am taking 9 credit hours, but only 6 are actual courses (3 are research credits); Database Management Systems and Object Oriented Languages and Systems. Fortunately, despite the workload, I am enjoying my classes and the material being taught in them (and they kind of go hand in hand conceptually so it's a plus for me!). I am also (for the first time) the PI, or Principal Investigator, for a research study and am working with a new Ph.D. student (Jim Shepherd). He also got a liberal arts degree so we have become somewhat of kindred souls in our research endeavours. Being Principal Investigator basically means I'm the one responsible for orchestrating the logistics of the study; fortunately I have Jim, my co-PI, and two awesome faculty advisors (Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill and Dr. Sarah Heckman) to work with, which makes much less stressful. I should have a link to my website somewhere on here (and if I don't I should) where the details of my previous and current research are kept - this too is slightly out of date but I'm working on it :). As papers are written and results are gathered, I will be posting study artifacts and knick knacks to my website. I will also, as I said, be attempting to keep my blog up to date with cool findings and random "brainstorming" sessions (among other cool related research stuff).

Of course school is keeping me busy, but my plan for this year is to try and change things up. I'm one of those people who always re-evaluates everything I do to see what can be made more efficient. To start, I'm on a new schedule. No more up until 3 am (well, not as often) and no more sleeping until noon. Everyday, up by 8-9 I am in bed by 10-11...notice I use time gaps - I know I'm not perfect and this is my way of giving myself "breathing room". I'm working on being consistent in how I allot my time during the day, but I already feel much more productive just because I have the day to get things done. I also figured since I have an increased workload with me also being a member/officer of WiCS (Women in Computer Science) so I should allow more time in my day for my busy schedule. Maybe it would make more sense to not do as much, but I like getting involved. I get to meet awesome people and have awesome experiences to remember and talk about. If there is one thing I would recommend, as a matter of fact, is to get involved. Find your passion (as I've found mine), because it really is the best feeling in the world, even when it gets hard (and trust me, it will get hard).

Now after that tangent, the point is, I want to be the best me I can be and there are things I definitely need to do to make that happen (working on my diet, and exercise is next -- happy body =  happy mind). Especially since I plan to do my preliminary doctoral exam at the end of the year (yikes!). I have a technical interview workshop I'm going to tonight and plenty of research work to catch up on, and of course we can't forget my coursework. It's a lot, but I love it and it's my motivation. And right now it's motivating me to end this blog entry so that I can get back to my work!

Until next time! :)

So this is life...

Hello again my faithful followers!

I'm trying to get better at updating this thing so bare with me...I know it's been a few weeks but in all fairness my life isn't as exciting (or frustrating) during the summer as it is during the school year. Much more time to enjoy being young and get things organized than during the school year so I'm DEFINITELY trying to take full advantage of that...especially since I know when I return to school three things will be occurring: 1) I will be in school, which means classes, which means more work; 2) I will be helping Yoonki work on his study for his Doctoral Thesis (which includes preparing a new paper and modifying the old one for submissions) and 3) I will be working on getting things rolling on my own research for my thesis/prelim exam (which also means more paper writing/conference finding). Trust me, it's not as fun as it sounds :D! I think I like the idea of getting ahead on my thesis work -- it's proving to be more difficult than I originally thought it would be! I want to come up with something really good (I hate feeling like I'm half ass-ing anything; makes me feel dirty) so I'm hoping the more papers I read (I've probably read 5 decent ones so far that I could probably use) the more concrete/developed idea I'll come up with. I just hope I'm putting myself on a good timeline - I stress pretty easily (anxiety sucks) but having some kind of plan usually helps. That is, unless things don't go according to plan which in that case I'm just one big ball of anxious stress waiting to explode. But fortunately no nuclear war yet :)

As for my internship...it's still BOSS! I've been getting to contribute more and more to the project and on top of that I'm getting compliments on my work/workmanship which definitely means a lot being that it's been a while since I've done development work. The more I'm working here the more I'm remembering why I got into computer science in the first place -- problem solving! Not just code problem solving, but overall problem solving -- what's best for the user? how can this be made better? why isn't this working? What it's not doing is helping me decide what I want to do when I'm done with school - I'm really enjoying this and wouldn't mind coding everyday for the rest of my life. However, I do miss reading/writing papers and solving problems on a larger scale - the unknown that is research. If I could have a job where I was able to code half the day and then spend the other half working on research I'm almost positive this would be the perfect job for me! I don't know if I could see myself doing one without the other (and hopefully I won't have to choose)! Fortunately, I have a couple more months at my internship and a few more years in school so there's time to make a decision; hopefully it will be an easy one. In the meantime, I'll focus on taking it a day at a time, enjoying my internship and preparing for the upcoming semester (which includes figuring out my funding - would LOVE to avoid loans at all costs, but it's not looking promising :/).

Well, I should get back to being productive (not that keeping my followers informed isn't important - but it doesn't pay :D )! Until next time... <3