Brendon Smith
br3ndonland
I found out about the Grow with Google scholarship via Udacity's Facebook and Medium posts, while on a bus to NYC for the New York Coffee Festival on October 14, 2017.
I applied through the Udacity website.
There were three parts to the application:
- Background Information
- Pre-requisite Knowledge
- Your Goals
What is your primary purpose in taking this program?
I selected "Help move from academia to industry", but "Start a new career in this field" would also fit.
What do you hope to accomplish through this program?
Please comment on relevant personal and professional goals. Include information about professional achievements (e.g., projects) that demonstrate how you have worked towards your goal. Please answer using complete sentences and no more than 150 words.
In the short term, I plan to build responsive and powerful web apps. I have already begun building my skills in the Udacity Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree program. I am proficient with Python, HTML5, CSS3, Markdown, Git, and GitHub, and am starting to learn JavaScript and build websites. I created a portfolio website. The website is fully responsive, built with Bootstrap and Jekyll, and hosted with GitHub Pages.
In the long term, I will use the skills I build with Udacity and Google to make a positive impact on science. While science is central to our existence as modern intelligent humans, my time as a scientist has made me realize that scientists lack the hardware and software we need to do our work effectively. After building skills in this program, I will be able to deliver improved technology tools to make science more efficient, reproducible, and sustainable.
Why do you deserve a scholarship?
Please include a detailed response between 100-250 words.
I have a clear purpose.
During my two years in a large molecular biology lab at Harvard, I became frustrated by the lack of technology tools to do my work efficiently. I saw that we are facing a reproducibility crisis in science, in which the discoveries that we publish are not correct or relevant to humans. I also saw that many scientists are struggling to sustain work/life balance.
We will never effectively address these issues without better technology tools to perform and document our work. After realizing this, I left my job at Harvard to dedicate myself to web development. My purpose is to build science technology tools for a more efficient, reproducible and sustainable research culture.
Web development engages the two major motivating outcomes in my life, focused personal growth and positive impact.
I am most happy when I am improving myself. Web developers use a large set of tools and skills. I have enjoyed building these skills so far, and appreciate how quickly I can make progress. My vision for improving science leads my personal growth to be focused and purposeful.
Web development will enable me to have a positive impact on the world by building technology tools for science. Science is of central importance in our society, but scientists do not have the software or hardware to work effectively. I will be able to deliver improved technology tools that will allow science to become more efficient, reproducible, and sustainable.