Personal Statement to the NASA/Ames Internship Program

[sugarplumkitty]

Where does a person start when describing who they are? To start with, I’m a naturally positive person who likes people. Curiosity and wonder are still a big part of who I am. For me, happiness is learning new things.

My background in computers started at a very young age. My father was a computer operator for Santa Clara County starting in 1960. Over the next 37 years he moved up through the ranks until when he retired, he was planning and implementing all the new installations. He proudly introduced me to all the systems he worked with over the years. Computers fascinated me from the first visit. I wanted to work with them when I grew up. Seeing computers evolve from paper tape and 80 column cards up to the sleek mainframes of 1992 was a unique and valuable experience. As a result of my early exposure, computers never intimidated me.

At the time I graduated from high school, computers didn’t seem to be an option. I grew up with a math disability that prevented me from going to a university. People told me computer careers required a strong math background. Not knowing what else I wanted to do, I landed a filing job at Valley Medical Center.

The Radiology file room tracked patient films with a computer and there was a separate computer system the hospital used to track patients. My ability with both computer systems was noticed. When a new program surfaced, I was the clerk tasked with learning it to teach the others. Soon I became the backup computer operator for the department’s IBM System/3 and started night classes to become a programmer. The instructor in my initial programming class looked at my first program and asked if I’d programmed before. My negative answer surprised him. He asked about my math and music background. He told me a music background is just as valid as math when it comes to logic and programming. Music has always been a major part of my life.

When the computer operator went out on maternity leave just when the conversion from the System/3 to an IBM System/36 was to begin, I was assigned the task of coordinating the whole thing. Not only did I learn a lot about installing hardware, software and converting data, my new knowledge of RPG came in very handy to fix bugs in the converted programs. I created training materials, step-by-step instructions and taught the staff of the department how to use the new software. Physical setup of the system was part of my job and I even assembled twinax cables. I’m proud to say the new system came up on schedule.

It took me nine years of night classes to get my AA in CIS. On graduation day, I was offered a programming position at Tencor Instruments and took it. After a year there customizing MAPICS programs, they switched to a different computer system and my job was gone. I called the software company I’d worked with for the Radiology computer conversion and was immediately hired to be their primary tech support person. Other initial tasks included finding and fixing bugs. I enjoyed the tech support part of the job the most. Solving problems for people is a good feeling. I have an ability to talk to people about technical things at their level of understanding without being condescending. When people called in with a problem, I had to figure out if it was software or hardware and talk them through the steps to resolve it. Sometimes I had to fix a program bug and get the fix to them. At first it was on diskettes, then on tapes, then through frame-relay and finally through a VPN if they had a newer AS/400.

By the time a company reorganization eliminated my job, my duties had expanded to configuring new AS/400’s for customers, ordering them and arranging their installation. I performed A/R, A/P and Purchasing for the systems and peripherals. In the process of putting proposals together in WordPro for the first few years, I overcame my math disability with the repetitive calculations required. Later when the company purchased licenses to MS Office, I was able to build the proposals in Excel and set up the contracts in Word. Other tasks included creating new program modules, writing on-screen help text, and updating the manuals for the company’s software packages. The voice-over classes I’d been taking for a few years came in handy when I recorded the company’s voice mail system. The demo CD for the newest software module featured my voice narrating. One of my final fun tasks there was designing a trade show booth using IBM business partner approved graphics to create banners.

After the lay-off, I took Java to update my programming skills. I found it frustrating because the whole thought process behind programming has changed drastically, plus the language is evolving so fast that many of the things I learned in the intro class were already retired by the time I took advanced. Still, I was determined to retrain myself for the current software market. My advanced Java instructor suggested I speak with a career counselor to decide which classes to take to become re-employed quickly. The counselor told me software wasn’t a viable career path in the US anymore without an undergraduate degree. She then suggested I consider hardware instead. Companies aren’t going to out-source hardware because it isn’t financially feasible. Hardware is fun. I’ve always enjoyed installing and troubleshooting. I’m now enrolled in the introductory Networking class at Foothill. It fits me very well.

Aside from work and school I’m an artist, actor, singer and curious person. For the last 10 years I’ve taken classes in professional voice-over. In the last year, I’ve also become one of the school’s booth engineers for visiting instructors, using a 16 channel Mackie audio mixer and Adobe Audition software. My original goal was to become a character voice in computer games and maybe cartoons. Now I’ve been trained in all aspects of voice-over including characters, commercials, narration, announcing, promos, and audio books. Last December, I performed in a radio drama that has aired on a North Bay station. The audio book group I’ve been working with does cast reads of books to make them a bit like a radio play. Several of the audio books we’ve recorded have been published. Through this group I also became part of the “History of Amusements” multimedia display at the entry of Musee Mechanique at Pier 45 in San Francisco, providing a few of the character voices that make comments about pictures as they’re shown.

Art is a necessity in my life. I’m driven to create. I’ve created my own holiday cards for many years, depicting myself in some holiday-themed activity with my husband and our pets. I have a website and a cafepress.com store so I can get shirts and other items with my art on them. A couple of commissions for original art have come my way. My latest project was a 1955 theme t-shirt for a group of “Boomer Babes” heading for a Disney celebration of their 50th birthdays on May 19th. My website is www.lindamontgomery.net.

Science fascinates me. Space exploration has always been a passion. I spent my childhood glued to the TV whenever something was going on up there. My family watched all the launches, broadcasts and splashdowns we could. I was praying when Apollo 13 re-entered the atmosphere. I was holding my breath when the Eagle landed on the moon and again when Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder. I remember gazing at the moon in awe, amazed that there were humans on the surface. My husband and I visit air and space museums whenever we can. We also enjoy touring show caves to see their weird, beautiful formations and take vacations planned around both interests.

As for dreams, having a career that uses my creativity is right there on top of the stack. While my ultimate dream is to be main character in a cartoon show, that’s a long shot. Working in tech is creative. Problem solving requires creative thought processes. The dream I’m trying to manifest has me working in a positive environment creatively solving problems for people. Specifics haven’t come into focus, yet. Something involving art would be icing on the cake.

My current plan for education is to pass the CompTIA certification tests in networking and security. After that, I’m planning to continue my education to gain certifications at higher levels.

The reason I’m applying to the NASA/Ames internship program is to gain experience in a new career direction. To get a job requires experience in that field. While I’d be grateful to be accepted as an intern by any of the participating companies, it’s exciting to think I have a chance to gain that experience at NASA/Ames.

Comments

Wow.

[ninevirtues.livejournal.com]

I say again: Wow.

[honeyswtrose.livejournal.com]

OMG.. That is the best written paper I have read in a long time.
Very Very Impressive. You shouldn't have a problem at all.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope you're right!

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

Internship? For what?

You write very well =)

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :) I worked on that for a long time, trying to remember all the rules I relearned for the CBEST test.

NASA/Ames uses community college students for a lot of positions and encourage other companies to participate with positions they have. It's a one year committment with 40 hours per week during the summer and 20 during the school year. I think it pays $10.00 per hour, but after making nothing for a while that will seem like riches to me.

I'm applying to their program in the areas of Network management, IT support, multimedia and... can't remember what other catagories I checked.

They said to check anything that sounded interesting. I'm thinking I should have checked marketing/outreach and psychology, too. Too late now.

It's a way to get back into the workforce - or into the workforce for the younger crowd - to gain experience in an area employers require for when we finish school. In some rare cases, the interns get hired on as employees. Lately they've been extending internships for a second or third year.

NASA/Ames can only accept US citizens as interns and a lot of the applicants are immigrants. That just boosts my chances! Wouldn't it be COOL to work for NASA? =)

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

I think it would be way cool to work for them =) Have you heard back yet?

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

I don't think so but I haven't checked my email yet.