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| Source: Negative Space |
My name is Josh Birdwell. I am a computer science junior. My first two years of college were at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. I absolutely loved it there. When I was there, I was the president of the Entrepreneurship Club and involved in a bunch of other organizations. I worked at the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, which is the outreach part of the Entrepreneurship School. Being involved in the entrepreneurship scene at OSU was extremely rewarding, and I am grateful for all the opportunities and growth that came from it.
I am extremely passionate about education. I love learning about anything to do with it. Specifically though, I am interested in education technology. I had a couple of classes have such a big impact on me growing up that I started to really love self learning. Now, I am always trying to learn something new.
In February of 2013 I started codecademy to teach myself how to code. Now after two years of learning and internships, I am a web developer intern for an education technology startup! I started from no programming knowledge and didn't know the lingo. Now I am programming for a living. Last summer, I started working for NextThought. At the end of the internship, the CEO Ken Parker was pushing me to stay. He convinced me to transfer to OU and continue working at NextThought. I have been here for over a year now, working on a content management system and helping build the main web app.
I am a HUGE fan of the NBA, NFL, college football and college basketball. My favorite teams are Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Cowboys, and OSU/OU for college sports (went to both). In the past couple of months, I've been listening to music a lot more. It is an extremely important part of my life now. I love learning and reading. There is always a book I'm reading and an online course I am taking. Of course, I have to mention I am an avid video game player and have been for my whole life.
Music has been more a part of my life this past year than ever before! I thought I would share a song with you.
Madison Harry is my fiancee and the love of my life. We met sophomore year of high school and started dating not too long afterward. The rest is history. Now we have been together over 5 years and are engaged. I couldn't be happier.
From my blog: Hello, I am
Hi Josh! I finally worked through the places post, so now I get to start reading some introductions... at least a few anyway before signing off tonight! I had no idea it was codeacademy that got you started: that is outstanding! And it is so great to have a great song to listen to while reading this post. Do you participate in some of the community stuff at SoundCloud? When I was listening to the Karsh Kale channel (I grabbed one of his songs to use for an embed in the class wiki), I was so intrigued by looking at the community participation around his music there. Powerful stuff! Anyway, I am really glad that you could fit this course into your schedule. I'm not sure what I think of management systems in general (two words that I never really use spontaneously in real life...), but you know I am excited about CONTENT, and I am very curious to see what you will be creating for this class! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! It sounds like you have a lot going for you! You know my friend who is part of the engineering college took a coding class, and he tried to get me into coding. Let's just say coding is not for me.. But that's why we have people like you who are the masters of coding! Your educational track is really unique. From OSU to a coacademy to OU. Welcome to the Sooner family!
ReplyDeleteI was terrible at coding at first. Now, I am decent or good enough to be dangerous! Thanks for the welcoming.
DeleteJosh, it is awesome that you taught yourself to code with Codecademy. I learned to program by taking an MIT OpenCourseWare class. It is really amazing what is possible when you combine technology with education. Without the Internet, learning would be vastly different. What online tools do you use the most to learn, and are you taking any other online courses currently? Welcome to OU! Get ready for a great semester.
ReplyDeleteI use udemy, coursera, degreed, medium, codeschool, and many more. I am taking this course and a astronomy course online as well. That's awesome. Have what do you like to code in? Have you worked on any fun projects?
DeleteHi Josh! I really like the layout of your blog! It is definitely different than anything I have seen so far. It seems like you have accomplished a lot throughout your college years. I am also an NBA fan! My favorite teams are the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls. Music is also an important part of my life. I can't live with out it! I hope to get to know you better throughout this class!
ReplyDeleteWhat have you been listening to recently?
DeleteYour story reminded me a lot of my brother! He also taught himself coding and after competing in a national coding competition, Boeing offered him a job on the spot. I know he loves what he does. I know nothing about computer coding, but it does seem very enticing to learn! I am also a huge fan of sports, I actually got my husband tickets to the Broncos/Chiefs game for our anniversary one year. It was amazing! If you haven't been to an NFL game you definitely need to check it out. It was totally worth going broke.
ReplyDeleteWell I know absolutely nothing about coding so good job to you! Congrats on being engaged! I am too! Engaged life is so fun. I am not sure exactly how you can be an OSU and an OU fan. I'm a pure Sooner. The Thunder is an amazing basketball team. Have you ever been to a game? My fiancé's family has season tickets so I went to my first game last season. Then I went to fish more games. Sometime last season they added these two Thunder logos that attach to the ceiling and then they make lightning. So cool!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you were such a sports fan, Josh! I never followed the Dallas Cowboys too closely, but I've started paying attention to them more as of late for a few different reasons, one being that Brandon Weeden plays for them now! So glad you started on coding early, because your experience really helped make E-Club's website amazing! Sometimes I wish I had gotten started earlier, but better late than never!
ReplyDeleteIt is so unique that you taught yourself how to code! My roommate has been wanting to learn for months, but she does not have the same motivation that you obviously do! I am glad that you transferred to OU from OSU, boomer! I also am starting to like the Dallas Cowboys. I have always been a Packers fan, but my friends are trying to persuade me otherwise since I am from Dallas Good luck to you in your internship at NextThought! What an incredible opportunity!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! It sounds like you're doing a lot of really awesome tech-oriented stuff. I just got into basic coding over the summer and I loved it. I've always seen my self as more of a humanities-oriented person, so I was really surprised by how much I liked working with code. I was also really excited to hear about your interest in education technology! I work at the Language Learning Center on campus, and we're always looking at new resources and materials to help students engage with their target language, so the advent of things like Duolingo and other web apps has been really interesting.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, let me just say the layout of your blog is way interesting! I am not used to seeing this type of layout with the other blogs I have peeked at so this is very refreshing and new. I like it!
ReplyDeleteYou sound like an person who has a lot going for them and an extremely busy person at that!
You sound very happy with your fiance, five years and going is quite a feat! That's very sweet that you were both high school sweethearts.
P.S- Hm Dallas Cowboys huh? :)
#EaglesNation
Yeah.. Been a fan since I was little. Eagles need to figure their stuff out this year. So do the cowboys though.
DeleteHello Josh,
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to read your story about CS. I am currently enrolling in Management Information System, which is part of business and part of IT. May I ask you about what coding language should I start to learn without programming knowledge?
Moreover I like your Blog’s design; you must have used your web developing knowledge in it! Your blog is very neat and comfortable to read.
Well, you make my life look like it is falling apart, haha. I always seem to figure out the people who have a background in computer science or web design the moment I click on their blogs. I have always thought that company startups are interesting and would love to learn more. As far as your video game playing, I would love to find out which games you play. I, myself am involved in Battlefield 4, Dayz, and I just started Destiny. Keep up the good work! your blog looks great and I love that you are always learning.
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! I can definitely say I was inspired by your passion of learning as I was reading your post! I think it's pretty cool that you transferred from OSU to OU- not many people are willing to do that! It seems like you have been quite busy throughout your college years with school, organizations, and internships! Keep it up! Good luck in all your future endeavours and good luck to you and your fiancee!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! I can definitely say I was inspired by your passion of learning as I was reading your post! I think it's pretty cool that you transferred from OSU to OU- not many people are willing to do that! It seems like you have been quite busy throughout your college years with school, organizations, and internships! Keep it up! Good luck in all your future endeavours and good luck to you and your fiancee!
ReplyDeleteHey Josh. I could tell by your blog page that you knew what you were doing, but all of that programming and coding is nuts! I am basically worthless beyond any of the basic day-to-day technologies and software. Sounds like you have a lot going on, that's awesome that you landed that job. I also really like learning new things. It isn't always scholastic learning, but I try and digest some new information everyday. Good luck with everything and congrats on the engagement!
ReplyDeleteHey Josh,
ReplyDeleteI was truly impressed by your webpage you have setup here and after reading your introduction I can see why it looks so fantastic. I looks like you are a motivated individual and I think it is awesome that you are interested in education. I have also from time to time thought about educating as one of my primary interest in my field. My brother was in engineering at OSU and also made the switch down to OU. It sounds like you have a plate full, good luck this semester!
Hey Josh! I think it is absolutely terrific that you taught yourself to code!! When I was about 13 I taught myself the basics of web coding online and I wish I would have taken it farther! I love building websites but I don't do well with the programs because I do better with the straight coding than trying to do it just by design like you would in Dreamweaver. It sounds like you've got a great thing going for you and I wish you all the best! Glad to have you at OU!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! I love learning too though I’m not keeping up on technology as much as I used to. It’s great that you have found something that you’re so passionate about. It shows, especially in the fact that NextThought wanted you to stay and keep working with them. They obviously see your value and your drive for that kind of work. Good luck with the rest of your studies!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! It is crazy how this whole semester has passed by and I have never come across your blog. I like the design of it by the way. After reading your introduction I can see where a lot of information about coding you used in your Week 12 story came from. You seem like a very motivated individual. Good luck on the rest of the semester.
ReplyDeleteHello Josh! That is incredible that you taught yourself how to code! It is a very useful skill and will come in handy more than you would think. Glad you came here from OSU. Having lived in Stillwater for my high school years, it can sometimes feel a little limited. I hope you are liking OU as much as I do!
ReplyDeleteHello Josh!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on you and your wife to be. I love hearing about how people met, I think that high school sweetheart stories are amazing. I learned a little bit about coding when I took a math class at Oklahoma City Community College. I may not be as advanced as you because I couldn’t grasp on to the idea while learning it.
Hello, Josh! I've come across your blog before, but am just now commenting. We actually have a weird amount of things in common. I also went to OSU for two years (I hated it, oops) before transferring to OU. I'm not a programmer, but my husband (whom I also started dating in highschool) is and works for OU Network Security. He keeps telling me that I should learn, but I tend to prefer spoken languages over coded languages. ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope that you are enjoying OU and that this class has been useful. Good luck with upcoming finals week!