ABOUT ME

Hi! My name is Shannon. I was born and raised in Los Angeles County, California. I've always had a passion for STEM, like my father, as well as the arts, like my mother. My father works on JPL's InSight project, which just recently landed on Mars. My mother works as an art teacher at the elementary school level. I enjoy reading, baking, cooking, playing video games, and photography. Recently, I've been reading the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, making lots of sweets for the holiday season, and anticipating the release of Super Smash Brothers for the Nintendo Switch. My favorite books are The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. Some of my favorite online pastimes are browsing Instagram and Twitter, and reading webcomic Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu. 

I am a fourth year student at the University of California, Merced in Computer Science and Engineering. I've had a great experience so far, and met some wonderful people. During my time here, I've also taken many interesting classes, including, but not limited to, Japanese, French, Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Vector Calculus, Circuit Theory, and Digital Image Processing. When I started attending UC Merced, I wasn't sure what major I wanted to pursue, but I quickly realized that I had a knack for CSE. Since then, I've been working hard to complete my degree, while trying to balance academics, a social life, and sleep. I think it has paid off, as I have a 3.85 GPA and will be graduating on time. I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter in life after my graduation in the spring of 2019.

As far as goals for the future, ultimately I'd like to have a job that I love and that can sustain me. I'm hoping to eventually pursue one or more graduate degrees, possibly continuing my education in Computer Science, or maybe in Design. At the moment, the movie industry is particularly appealing to me. I've always been fascinated by the behind-the-scenes features included with movies, and would love to be a part of that process. My ideal, probably unattainable, goal would be to work for WETA Workshop in New Zealand, the studio that created the effects for The Lord of the Rings. I took a vacation in New Zealand with my family two years ago, and we visited a bunch of locations where they shot the movie. Many of the pictures on this site are ones that I took on that trip. I would love to go back someday, even if it's just for another vacation.

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This website includes three other pages besides this one: Research, Collaboration, and Reflection. The Research page highlights the research that I've done this semester on the topic of Virtual Reality and how it is portrayed in fiction. Collaboration showcases a group workshop presentation from earlier in the semester. Reflection includes some journal entries from the over course of the class, as well as a summary of my personal growth as a writer this semester. All pictures on this website are mine except for some on the Research page.