As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a storyteller. It felt as if stories were the only things that truly last. As a child, I heard the Stories of my Polish grandparents and mother, and American father. I was raised by stories told by my Babcia and family. It made me understand that a single day could change the trajectory of history, but even more so that stories are written by someone. This set me on the path to reverse engineer narrative. To not just understand the why and how of things, but how things could be. History, Anthropology, Literature, and humanities bring fire to my soul. I’m the result of two cultures smashing into each other, never exactly one or the other, and my future path in both programming and humanities is part of this story.
While I have always been interested in the humanities, I did not originally intend to start on this path in college. Although part of me wanted to pursue the humanities, I also wanted to use my college experience to build skills that could give flexibility in my future career options and explore different opportunities. I settled on Information Decision Sciences through talking with my friends and family and balancing between my range of interests and values. The IDS degree path would give me this variety of skills that would allow me to build a foundation for my future.
Programming is a narrative in itself. There’s an exigence, typically a business need, an audience, and a purpose. What draws me to programming is that it’s a tool that can fill a wide range of needs. It seems similar to the wood working of my father – growing up a craft that requires time and patience, easy to be mediocre – hard to be good at. My first thought after learning the concepts of relational databases was the possibilities of how to curate notes and related data to gain a deeper understanding of everything I learn. I want to write code for the same reason I research, to help create a better world.
Ultimately, what draws me to history and narrative is hope. Paradoxically, I think this is what draws me to desire to pursue Slavic Studies in graduate school. All historical events have catalysts, and I believe to understand these catalysts will lead to a brighter future. I am drawn particularly to the subjects of nationalism, economics, and antisemitism for this precise reason. To understand the “why” is to begin to create a better tomorrow. Eastern Europe in particular is intriguing, as it also has a dual identity; both European and somehow different. The historical questions seem to be endless and nuanced, which draws me to them. I want to truly understand the cause of these large historical trends to answer the question of how they happened. Which isn’t too different to debugging a program, though certainly less stressful.
The duality of my calling has been difficult for me to grasp until recently. I was seemingly unable to combine two seemingly different trajectories. I’ve always wanted to spend my life doing something that has a material benefit for others. After realizing that I am drawn to narrative, this has helped me understand that what I really want to do is to tell a story. To write a good program or to conduct and eventually present impactful research requires engaging with a problem. They both require to understand their audience’s needs and ability in order to produce a quality output. They also require the creator to have patience and ability to analyze material and put it together. To create either is to tell a story, and both are made easier with the other. Whatever my path ends up being, be that humanities, programming, both or neither, I will be a storyteller. The ultimate benefit of being a storyteller is to use the skills you have in new and inventive ways in new circumstances.