WEBVTT

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My name is Shay Green and I majored in 

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computer science at Western Oregon University.

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The reason why I choose computer science was mainly because of my Mom.

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She's a software engineer and she really inspired me to get into the field.

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And just the opportunity to impact technologies in people's lives 

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is something that I'm really passionate about.

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Today, I work for the College of Engineering and Computer Science

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at Portland State University. I work as a college ambassador

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representing the college to potential students.

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And I'm really, really excited because in a few months I will be starting a position  

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as a software engineer at Google.

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That position will be writing code and evaluating that code

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for different softwares and different products at Google.

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Working at Google is like the dream.

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I went through the interview process and I was like

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there's no way. You know, it was one of those things that

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you'd regret it if you didn't try and I just kept making it through.

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I think that one of the reasons why I'm so successful in my career so far

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is I had the opportunity to work with such amazing faculty and staff

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at Western who really were committed to my development as a student and as a person.

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Another thing that I did at Western was I got involved in things outside of the classroom. 

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That was really impactful in my development as a professional. 

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Because it's a smaller, liberal arts college so as a STEM major you get the opportunity 

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to explore other aspects of your education outside of just that specific major.

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And as a smaller school you get the opportunity to form connections with 

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the faculty and staff that you might not otherwise get to do. 

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I think one thing that makes Western so special is the people. 

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They're all incredible and it such a good opportunity 

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to be part of a strong community. 

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music