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My name is Heather Elane
Metcalf and I am currently a senior at
Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
I am working to get my bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Applied
Mathematics as well as a minor in English Writing. While attending
college, I also work two jobs. The first job is working as a head
server at a local fine dining restaurant, called
The Wolf's Den
Restaurant. I
work there 30-40 hours each week and really enjoy the people whom I work
with.
I also have a work-study job on campus that is for 10 hours per week during the semester. For this job, I work with a group of students in the file server room as network administrators in the CIS building, as well as work on faculty computers, and maintain the student computer lab. I am learning a lot about networking from this job that my programming-oriented degree would not teach me. I enjoy programming, but it is nice to be able to learn about the other side of computer science as well.
I have such a wide variety of interests that it is hard for me to decide what I want to do when I am finished with my undergraduate program. I know that I want to go to graduate school, but I am not certain which field I want to enter. Dr. Dana Madison, my work-study boss and professor, suggested that I apply for a position in the Distributed Mentorship Program. He knew that I had interests in Women's Studies and that I planned on attending graduate school, but had a dilemma about choosing which direction to take. The DMP pairs female students in computer science and engineering with mentors from various institutions across the country so that they can work on a project in hopes of encouraging the students to enter graduate school. I was awarded a position in the program and was placed, along with Devon Skyllingstad, at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Maria Gini as my mentor. Dr. Gini's main area of research is in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. Her website gives an abundance of information about her, so if you want to know more, check it out. The links to the left will lead you to the pages detailing my ten weeks in the program, the project I worked on, and the activities I did in my free time.
Questions? E-mail me!