Depoll.com

And the leaves that are green turn to brown. :) Sorry, Simon and Garfunkel on the brain.

It's been a little while since my last post, so I probably have more than usual to report. First, some catching up:

• Happy Hanukkah!
• Merry Christmas!
• Happy New Year!
• Happy Valenti -- oh, wait, we're not quite there yet.

Well, astonishingly, I made it through last semester. It certainly was a draining one, but I was very happy to make it through. The nutty part: that was my last semester as an undergrad. Wow. It still hasn't fully sunken in (on the eve of my first day of classes as a CS grad student). Crazy. So... I now have a B.A. In Computer Science. After 2.5 years. Cool. :) Ok, that's a little understated, but you get the idea. It's an exciting time for me (and I think many more will come), and now I get to embark on a new adventure. Before I do that, though, I think I'll reflect on my undergraduate experience a little:

It all started "Fall of aught five." I was a young lad, full of hopes, and dreams. Ok, so I was an 18 year old getting ready for another school year, but doesn't that sound so much better? Anyhow, I had a great time that year. I also had a reality check. At the beginning of the year, I had the crazy idea that I should go for a triple-major: Business, Political Science, and Computer Science. Uh, yeah, that wasn't happening. I don't think it took me more than a month to figure out that this was not a great idea, and I dropped my political science aspirations. Within a few more months (and after realizing the energy-hog that my Econ class ended up being), Business was off the table, and it hit me that by doing this, I could finish my CS degree within 3 years. So, that became the plan, and I started setting that in motion that first year.

Actually, looking back, a lot of cool stuff happened that year. Taking CS61C my first semester, I met Dan Garcia, who really helped me come into my own throughout my undergraduate career. In addition, not expecting anything to come of it, I applied for an internship at Microsoft (who gets an internship at a big software company their freshman year? I didn't think I had a chance), which, as you probably know, has been very fruitful for me, to say the least. I also had the dorm experience that year, and while that wasn't wonderful, I wouldn't change anything if I had to do it again. That year, in my suite, I met my good friend Jon, who has turned out to be the best I could've hoped for in a roommate. Hey, he's been willing to put up with my puns; what more could I ask for? I made some great friends in the dorms, and they've helped make the Berkeley experience a great one for me.

Microsoft was great for me. Both internships left me with much more confidence and excitement about my field, which I was able to carry over into my school life. I took on some leadership roles, explored new opportunities, and pushed on in my quest for a bachelor's degree. Not only did I finish quickly, I also managed to get into the "5th year" master's program, thanks in no small part to all of these experiences I've mentioned. Can I complain?

All in all, it's been quite a ride, and a very rewarding one at that. I need to thank some people for their support at various points throughout this process:

• Mom, Dad, and Sari, where would I be without your support?
• Jon, for being a great friend and roommate.
• Dave Wittry, for piquing my interest in computer science and starting down this road.
• Dr. Dan Garcia, for helping me get involved on the Berkeley campus and being such a helpful advisor throughout my undergraduate experience.
• David Hill and Kathy Carper, for being amazing mentors at Microsoft and really giving me a chance to see what I can do.
• Everyone else. Yeah, it's a cop out, but there were so many people that helped make this great for me, and I don't mean to miss anyone important.

Thanks so much for everything, everyone. It's been a great ride. Now, on to grad school!

So, those are my undergrad reflections, but lots of other stuff has been going on. I had a great winter break at home in SoCal. I spent a few days (over Christmas) in Vegas with my family, which was incredibly fun. We saw Love, Spamalot, and Penn and Teller, and had a great time playing poker and just enjoying being together as a family. While we were there, we got some great news about my grandmother's cancer: she's basically cured! That made for a great, upbeat time on the trip. The rest of the break was a lot of fun, too. My parents had some time off of work, so we got to spend a lot of time together. New Year's eve at Peter's place was a ton of fun and a nostalgic trip back to high school days with so many old friends there. I spent time with old friends, saw lots of movies, and just had a great time in general.

And now, I'm back in Berkeley for the first semester of my Grad program. I'm really excited, and I'll be doing some great work. My research advisor will be Koushik Sen, and I'll be working on some projects regarding verification of parallel software. Can you blame me for being jazzed?

To sum up, I would have to say all is well, and things are looking up going forward as well. Until next time!

Labels: Berkeley, career, family, friends, internship, Master's, Microsoft, Personal, school, vacation

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posted by depoll @ 12:35 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Howdy everyone! Well, I'm now back in Southern California, after a looooooong drive down. Sadly, I received a ticket just as I was leaving Washington (goody... car issues on the first and last day there!). It's my first speeding ticket, so hopefully I'll be able to do traffic school online or something like that. Anyhow, it's great to be home, but now I'm off again! Tomorrow morning I leave for Israel, and soon after that I'm off to Turkey. It's great to be on vacation (really haven't been on any substantial vacation since April, so it's good to take a little break from school/work). I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family (parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.). It should be one heck of a vacation. Many thanks to my aunt and uncle for helping to make it possible!

My last week at Microsoft was great, much more relaxed than I was used to. It was really great getting to know everyone on the team, and I had an awesome time working on Acropolis. I have to make a shout out to the team for shipping their August CTP this week (which has a feature I worked on during the latter half of my intenship). Congratulations, you guys!

During my last week, I received a full-time offer, which I now have to consider. I'm definitely going to be doing my M.S. at Berkeley over the next year and a half, but I now know I have an offer waiting for me. I've got a little time to decide, and it's very tempting, so I'll be making an effort to explore my options and discuss all of what's going on with my parents and uncle over the next few months. Not too shabby of a choice to have to make, if you ask me. :)

Anyhow, what comes next is an opportunity to relax, have fun, and brood over my choices. I'll hopefully have internet access and will be able to share while I'm in Israel and Turkey, but if for some reason I'm SWC (stuck without connection? don't ask, I just made it up.), I'll speak to you when I return. Have a great few weeks, everybody!

Labels: Acropolis, family, internship, Microsoft, summer, vacation

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posted by depoll @ 9:31 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Well, I'm only up here in Redmond for one more week. What a trip it's been. This week, I'll be singing in an A Cappella group and a Barbershop group at the intern talent show. If I can get pictures, I'll try to post them :). As for what comes next? Well, I'm looking forward to next semester at Berkeley, and I've got some great vacation plans for the rest of the summer. Unfortuntely, between my internship and vacation, I'm barely getting any time to spend with friends back home. I miss y'all, and hopefully I'll get a chance to see you during the year if not during my short breaks between internship and vacation and vacation and school.
I'm also looking forward to seeing my Berkeley friends again. It's hard to believe 3 months went by so quickly.

Anyhow, best wishes to all. I know good times are ahead.

Labels: friends, internship, summer, vacation

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posted by depoll @ 2:30 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Well, as predicted (I must have inside info :)) there's now more of my content on the Acropolis Website (see link). Internship's going well, and I'm having a great time. I can't believe I've only got about 3 weeks left. It went so fast!! Nonetheless, it's been a lot of fun, and it's hard to form a legitimate complaint about working hard when it's where my interests/drive/etc. are taking me. It's been quite a summer, and I've been very pleased with my decision to return for my second internship this summer.

Next semester is bound to be an interesting one for me, as it's my last undergrad semester. I'm trying to arrange it so that I only have class 3 days/week, which would be amazing. I'll finally have time to explore some of my own projects, visit home more often, and maybe just relax a little bit. On top of all of that, the classes I'm taking sound like they'll be really interesting. What a life... Microsoft and Berkeley: quite a combination.

Labels: Acropolis, Berkeley, career, internship, Microsoft, summer

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posted by depoll @ 9:50 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Well, I'm up here at Microsoft, and having a great time. I figure now's as good a time as any to actually try to use my website for blogging :). For those of you who are curious, here's the project I've been working on, called Acropolis:
http://windowsclient.net/acropolis

You'll notice on that page a few videos that I produced as tutorials on our product! Yep, my involvement as an intern at MS is public now!

I'm sure there will be more to come... In the meantime, I'm having an incredible time up here, and looking forward to what's to come! I'll be up here at Microsoft until August 3, and then it's less than a month until I'm back at Berkeley. During that time, I'll be visiting family in Israel, and vacationing in Turkey. Microsoft, travel, preparation for school... Makes for quite a summer!

Labels: Acropolis, career, internship, Microsoft, summer

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posted by depoll @ 12:26 AM 0 Comments Links to this post