Megan Jones |ˈmɛɡən ˈdʒəʊnz |

Background

I've been a software engineering consultant since 2020, building custom Salesforce applications for enterprise clients. My route here involved two literature degrees, seven years teaching English as a foreign language, a coding bootcamp, a few political campaigns, some intense citizen lobbying, and the gradual realization that I wanted to build things instead of just talking about them. I've also worked in food service, retail, and was in the control group for a lot of studies at Indiana University - basically I've gone wherever curiosity and the need to pay my bills led me.

Education

I am basically a professional student. I'm finishing my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from University of the People and starting my Master's in Computational Linguistics at the University of Washington this fall. I also hold degrees in Comparative Literature and English with a minor in Spanish from Indiana University Bloomington and a Master's in Literature from the University of Kansas. Additionally, I completed Lambda School's Web Development and Computer Science yearlong bootcamp, obtained a certificate in Technical Writing from Bellevue College, and have a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate from Teflen Training College.

Languages

Languages have been a fascination of mine since childhood. My mother likes to tell the story of how in kindergarten I demanded she explain how to spell the letter A because knowing how to write it wasn't good enough for me. By elementary school, I was picking up words in other languages to talk to my classmates. Eventually, this interest led me to comparative literature and teaching English, then to computer programming - which isn't as different as people think. These are the languages that make me who I am:

• Spanish - B2/C1
  • started in high school, became my brain's backup operating system
• French - B2
  • pandemic hobby turned unexpected obsession
• Italian - B1/B2
  • Sacco and Vanzetti made me do it
• Indonesian - B1
  • Indonesian neighbors turned tidak into belum and eventually ya
• Portuguese - B1
  • started for the salary boost, stayed for the samba
• German - B1
  • an ex told me I wasn't smart enough to learn it
• Russian - A2/B1
  • started on a whim, accidentally committed
• Kiswahili - A2
  • grew up in Kenya - umoja
• Korean - A1/A2
  • childhood friend-making strategy that worked
• Esperanto - A1/A2
  • intentionality, connection and hope