Posted on: May 2nd, 2025
Lets see...
My name is Peder (it rhymes with cheddar) and as of writing this I just graduated from Virginia Tech with a Master's in Computer Science and Applications back in December 2024. I got my Bachelor's in Computer Science from James Madison University along with a Minor in Asian Studies.
I originally grew up in South Dakota until the 7th grade, when I moved to Virginia. I have an older sister (who last I checked was in england) and my parents are divorced. I moved in with my grandparents because South Dakota wasn't the best place for getting an education. I loved to read back in elementary school, and my best subject was always math, so I always thought I would get a career in mathematics. This continued in middle school, where I was in the advanced math class, though I slowly stopped reading as much.
Highschool was much of the same, I got good grades and was in the advanced math class etc. Starting my junior year of high school I joined the local Governor's School, and I thought I wanted to be an aerospace engineer. That didn't last that long though, as I realized I didn't want to do that much work (and an alumni of the program said that you shouldn't get into the field for the money). Coincidentally, that same year I was taking an AP Computer Science class and realized two things:
- I was really good at it (I believe I was the only one in the class to get a 5 on the AP exam)
- It was fun
I graduated high school in 2019 and started at James Madison University that fall. Because if my AP Computer Science class and my Dual Enrollment calculus classes from the Governor's School, I was basically able to skip the entire first year of the Computer Science program. Thanks to that I never had to take more than 4 classes a semester, and I was able to fit in a minor in Asian Studies. Unfortunately Covid-19 hit during my freshman year and stayed until the end of my sophomore year. During Covid-19 I joined the JMU Anime Club because I liked anime and wanted to meet new people. Thankfully the club was able to meet online and was able to survive the pandemic. Once the pandemic was over, I became the club's Treasurer, and kept the position until I graduated. I met my best friends in the club, and I am still friends with them to this day. Because of my interest in anime, I started to learn Japanese and I was able to take a few classes at JMU. I took two years of Japanese, and I realized that adding an Asian Studies minor wouldn't be too much work. As such, I took a few classes:
- Modern Chinese History
- An Introduction to Hinduism
- Chinese Literature
- Japanese Culture
During the Summer of 2023, I went to Japan for about 2 months on a summer study abroad program. I took some japanese culture and literature classes at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, and I was able to visit a few places in Japan. Halfway through the trip I realized I wasn't getting any souvineers, and I was right in front of a store that sold incense sticks, so I decided that I would get incense sticks from every temple I visited. Japan was really fun and I would love to go back someday.
During my final semester at JMU, I was able to have some classes double count for my Bachelor's and Master's degrees through an agreement between JMU and Virginia Tech (Parallel and Distributed Systems, and Compilers). This meant, once again, I had to take fewer classes than normal for my Master's degree. I started my Master's degree in August 2023 online, and that was my situation for the first two semesters at VT. My third and final semester at VT was in person, partly because I hoped that taking class in person would help me get a job because the classes were held in Northern Virginia.
Unfortunately for me, partly due to the job market and partly due to my own mistakes, I never got an internship during college. And when I graduated VT in December 2024, the job market for Software Engineers in Northern Virginia had dried up as many companies stopped hiring due to uncertainty about government contracts.
I stayed up in Northern Virginia for a few months after graduating, before moving back to Staunton, Virginia in April 2025. And that brings us to the present day (as of writing).