With computers becoming ever more important in our day to day lives, as they have been for many
decades now, the understanding of how they work is of increasing value. I go out of my way to learn
more and teach others about computers, for example starting my own club at my college called 
The Unix user group, to teach people the history of Unix.

One can often find me in my free time, doing research on or making a new tool to better my workflow, and much
to my friends irritation, trying to get them to use it too. Coding has really been a lifeline for me, 
starting around covid, I had time to self teach, and that's what I did; most of the tools I now 
use are self taught, for example the main language I write in is C, even though in school and collage I've 
only even been taught python. Having learnt C really drew me to another of my interests which 
is micro-controllers such as the PI pico and Arduino UNO; being aware of how low level languages function 
really made working on the constrained space of a microcontroller feel more natural. Using these 
tools I've built everything from games, to text editors, and even a custom keyboard/keypad, all of 
which were started by myself and finished by myself.

After I learnt the basics of coding I looked projects as examples for my own work, this drew
me to the open source software space, and since I began that search, I have switched almost
all the software I use to open alternatives. Doing this really pushed me to industry standard
tools, like GNU/Linux and command line utility's like Vim, GDB and Latex to name a few. This switch 
really introduced me to all kinds of software, that I know I will use for many years. 
I think having made this jump did nothing but help me, making me eager to write more code, 
contribute to others, and keep finding other projects.

I have always enjoyed large project work, and at college I've had far more opportunity's to do 
things like large programming projects, and practical write ups. I always 
try and go above and beyond in these tasks, as an example for my computer science coursework, 
I made my own compiled programming language from the ground up. I decided that in my second year I would 
write an EPQ on software licensing which I have now started; this too was because I enjoy pushing myself, 
researching new things and completing projects. I really cant wait to be doing this more 
at university where this kind of work is more common, as I find its where I show my full ability 
to take a project from an idea to a finished product. My hobby has also expanded into my education, 
most obviously in my course choices, however also, as previously mentioned, in things such as the 
club I started and run myself, (Unix user group), teaching others from my own self taught knowledge. 
As an extension to my education, I found work experience with the company EWAVE, where I worked with 
and tested micro LED's, using my knowledge of electronics as a base and my knowledge of computer 
science to assist the company in automating its testing process.

Outside of my education I have a job working in a restaurant; I found it stressful at first, but now
I find it very rewarding; I've masted it, I enjoy what I do, and I have made friends in my
colleges. Using teamwork skills from over 10 years of scouting, I play an important role in keeping
the kitchen moving at pace.

Looking forward, I am excited to continue my studies, I want to show people what I can do, and 
make things that help others. I would like to keep my studies going to a high level, researching
the cutting edge of computers and electronics.