I'm Maria, a machine learning and software enthusiast, who loves rock climbing!
Hi! My name is Maria Cheng and I am a recent graduate from the University of Waterloo. I studied Nanotechnology engineering, and realized by third year (a bit too late) that it wasn't the right program for me, and I had little passion for what I was learning. In fact, what I was interested in was software development. Nevertheless, the intense cirriculum of this program taught me a couple of important lessons and introduced me to newfound experiences that I would never had known, had I not taken this path:
The co-op program introduced me to positions in both the industry and research settings. It allowed me to accept and explore software development as a possible career path, and realize that I was not interested in labratory work. It was through my last co-op placement that I encountered machine learning and implemented models on medical images for cancer detection. This was a completely new area for me and sparked my interests profoundly. I decided that this was a possible career path that I would pursue. In my final year, I immersed myself in the world of machine learning and AI. I took courses revolving around databases, pattern recognition, autonomous vehicles and the social impacts of AI. I thoroughly enjoyed this term the most and even though I did not have a formal foundation on programming, I managed to succeed in each course.
There are two main lessons about learning I will forever continue to hold:
I will never forget the hard work I put into this program and these courses, trying to meet deadlines and submissions with my best work forward. In the end, I can look proudly at my accomplishments and say that I invested 100% of myself into my work. As a result, I managed to graduate on the Dean's Honours List.
I forget the things I learn in class if I don't end up using and applying those concepts in labs, assignments and at work. You can read up about a topic all you want, but to truly master the subject, you need to know how to use it in action.
I remember in third year, I had one term where the final exam season consisted of 7 exams within the span of 2 weeks. When I look back at this time, I think "How the hell did I manage that???" Yet I did, and I am still alive today. What motivated me during that time was the gratification of overcoming a difficult obstacle. Most of the courses weren't easy and were not my best subject; I wanted to prove that I had learnt something during the term and showcase my hard work in one grand finale.