Being Geek Chic is a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds and people who enjoy the musings of a complete dork. Join us as we dream of driving the TARDIS, cuddle with our eBooks and test out an iPad sleeve. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi and a team of brilliant lady nerds. Meet the team.
Ever dreamed of living in Silicon Valley? This week’s Lady Geek is for you. Meet Kamilah Taylor (@kamilah), a Software Engineer at LinkedIn. (I’ll let her fill you in on living in the Valley…)
Taylor’s professional bio will tell you that she was born in Jamaica and grew up in both Kingston and Atlanta, Georgia. She spent her childhood “playing with Legos, reading books, swimming at the beach, and looking for fairies.” After studying computer science and math at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, she did her M.Sc. at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Check out her full resume here.
Her Being Geek Chic interview will tell you about her failed biology experiment resulting in dead pansies, the not-so-corporate culture of LinkedIn, and what she would drink with Dumbledore.
Read on!
Q: What has led you to your passion?
A: I’ve always loved to solve puzzles, this is a constant theme in my earliest memories. Math was always a favorite subject, and I treasured getting computer time on my dad’s computer. At some point, I declared I wanted to go to space, so my parents told me I needed to do science. Then, in middle school and high school, I went through a series of science fair projects that sort of eliminated different parts of science for me. There was the pansy experiment that ended with dead pansies, and then the ozone testing that unfortunately involved expired chemicals. I decided that biology and chemistry weren’t for me.
But then, a series of events lead me to math/computer science/physic track. My parents gave me a Lego Mindstorms kit for a gift, so I decided to try and make a walking robot for my science fair project. It wasn’t totally successful, but I got to program and build things and I loved it. Then in my junior year, I took a series of classes: an Introduction to Robotics class, AP physics, and AP calculus. They were the hardest classes I’d taken at that point and I loved them all. I got more programming experience in the robotics class, made another robot for science fair which actually managed to place, and my robotics teacher picked me and two other classmates to enter a robotics competition held at Georgia Tech. At the same time, I finally felt academically challenged in my physics and calculus classes. I think that was the year I decided I’d double major in math and computer science.
Q: What’s it like living in Silicon Valley?
A: Amazing. My first week here, I spotted a Google self-driving car and totally geeked out. The next cool technology is always around you. I was recently at a talk, spotted someone wearing the Google Glass, and got to play with it. Sometimes it feels like you’re just working at your job like everyone else, nothing special. And then you realize that you and everyone around you is working on the stuff that millions of people use and will use. There’s a real energy here that I’m in love with.
Q: What’s the best part about working in the social networking industry?
A: Well there are two parts to this. LinkedIn is a social network that helps people transform their careers, and it’s amazing that I get to contribute to this. The other is the actual working at LinkedIn. We have a great culture here, with people I genuinely enjoy working with. There are random nerf gun wars, free t-shirts for almost any reason, awesome engineering offsite events…my family and friends are probably a little tired of hearing me talk about all the fun times I’ve had here
Q: When did you first realize you were “geeky?
A: I don’t know if I can pick an “aha” moment for that. It’s clear to me looking back that I always was - I was the president of our high school math team! I do recall an amusing incident in my high school physics class. Our teacher gave a funny explanation of the difference between a nerd, a geek, and a dork. My immediate thought was, well clearly, I’m a geek. This isn’t to say that I was only into the sciences, in fact, I think I’m pretty well rounded. I did art, played piano, I liked some of the girly things. But I always knew I was somehow different from others. And that’s not a bad thing.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose, and what would you drink?
A: My mind just exploded. I spent my childhood in books, and coincidentally, I used to entertain myself with imagining what would happen if I brought various fictional characters into our world. I’m also a huge scifi/fantasy fan, so here goes. It’s impossible for me to choose just one fictional character, but I’m going to limit myself to a butterbeer with Dumbledore, a sonic screwdriver with the Doctor and River Song, and a Romulan ale with Data. Also, I know this isn’t a drink, and most Americans won’t know what I’m talking about, but I’ve always wanted to try this dessert called pop biscuits that Enid Blyton described in her Faraway Tree series. You bite into them and warm honey explodes in your mouth. Someone needs to make these.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: Don’t worry that you don’t fit into categories, it’s what makes you special. You’ll grow out of your awkward phase. Read more science fiction. Also, the not being allowed to wear makeup thing? Turns out you’ll be too lazy to wear makeup on a daily basis!
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, history scholar, tea drinker, fashion devotee, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic.
Follow her on twitter: @emmalynnbauer
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