Back at the beginning
Almost 5 years ago I moved to Champaign, Illinois, to start a PhD in Kinesiology. I arrived in a new country, to live on a new continent (not my first time) with a backpack, a suitcase and wide-eyed ambitions to save the world (in my own way).
In 2020, the Daily Illini (university newspaper) put word out about our research into martial arts and cognitive functions with this article, and it boosted my motivation to show everyone what I could do. I have spent my whole life showing people that being a jack-of-all-trades doesn't have to mean I was a master of none. I can (and have) taught college courses on sport psychology, health technology, research, social sciences and more. I am a qualified and experienced martial arts instructor, fitness instructor, musician, 3D designer, prototyper, computer programmer, woodworker and then some. And, of course, I wanted everyone to know it.
But if these past few years have shown me anything, it's that showing everyone what you can do is nowhere near as powerful as showing everyone what they can do. Empowering others to recognize the skills they can build, the mental performance they can achieve and the healthy lifestyle habits they can adopt is quite possibly the most fulfilling part of my life.
I try to bring that energy into every aspect of my professional work. Improving processes, improving communication and helping others improve themselves in whatever way they want to grow. It is central to everything I want to achieve. In my personal journey, I didn't know how to code (at all) until about 3 years ago, when I caught the data science bug. It started with R (still my favorite programming language), which then went to Python, which then moved to SQL, HTML and CSS. JavaScript was the natural next move, and what I am trying to learn now.
Originally, this was all to help me with my PhD; but soon I realized it could become so much more. My first app was an attempt to help people understand their health better with a freely-available estimations calculator: Physical Estimation Tools
Later, my friend and I put out a Multivariate Stratified Randomization tool to help researchers get more homogenous groups in their RCT studies.
Now, as I finish up my PhD, I'm wondering what else I can do with these skills. If you have any ideas, I'm looking forward to hearing them!