My name is Paulina Masson, I'm a fourth year Computer Science student at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. I am in Software Engineering stream and am also pursuing a Minor in Business.
Currently I am looking for a 12 month Project Management internship opportunity, starting in September, 2010. Here's my updated resume.
I enjoy computer programming, especially when it involves challenges and new things to learn. Programming requires a certain personality type and passion for problem solving - I believe I fit the profile quite well:) There is a personal quality of mine, which I am especially proud of: the ability to stay focused on a task for a long period of time. I could be stuck on some problem for a very long time, but wouldn't give up, even if it takes 12 or more hours of non-stop work. And then, when I finally attain the result, there comes the great feeling of self-satisfaction - I have done it! Such moments are amazing. If you're a passionate programmer, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And that is why I love it.
I grew up in Klaipeda, a major seaport city on the coast of Lithuania, Northern Europe. After high school graduation, I worked as a Logistics Specialist at Siemens Yazaki Lithuania and also at Baltic Logistic Systems. At Siemens, the job I was doing, involved a lot of manual calculations and comparisons of data. I decided to come up with a solution for it - learned Visual Basic in my spare time, and improved MS Access database with custom macros, to perform the work for me. Now the amount of work I used to do in a day, I was able to complete in an hour! My manager was very impressed with the initiative - the company awarded me with a monetary prize, and I was soon promoted. Then I knew. Programming is what I really want to do.
A very exciting time in my life was when I decided to go work on the cruise ships - I've travelled to many exotic locations, such as the Caribbean, Bermuda and Belize; met many interesting people from all around the world (including my husband); and of course, had a lot of fun! One of the jobs I was doing onboard, was crew internet cafe administrator. I managed user accounts, groups, printers, file systems and security, installed software and performed backups. A step closer to a career in high tech, I thought.
Some time has passed. It was time to settle down, so I came to Ottawa, where my husband was from. I retook all grade 12 courses, to comply my knowledge with Ontario standards. I am proud to mention, that with Canadian high school graduation, I was awarded the Governor General's Academic Medal for high academic achievement. It led to full entrance scholarship from Carleton University.
In summer 2007, I was working as a research assistant for "Pass-thoughts: Authenticating with our Minds" project at Carleton, which I found tremendously interesting and a great experience for my first year at CU.
During academic year 2007-2008 I was the Vice President External for Carleton Computer Science Society and Carleton U representative for Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference.
In 2008, I worked at IBM, as a software developer intern. The two great teams that I had a chance to work with were: Rational Requirements Composer team (managed by Vishy Ramaswamy) and Graphical Modeling Framework team (managed by Anthony Hunter). During those 8 months at IBM, I gained a great deal of experience. It was invaluable to see many of the concepts that I learned at school being used in the real world. I've developed a better understanding of various design patterns, learned to write more efficient algorithms and experienced how exactly the agile programming principles work.
In Summer 2009, I was working at Electronic Arts in Vancouver, FIFA 10 team, managed by Peter Kishimoto. My responsibilities included developing front end features using Actionscript and C++, working on the game bootflow, delivering FIFA10 demo. I got to work with Xbox 360 and PS3 console systems - great experience.
I love my school. It has a beautiful riverside campus, filled with trees and green spaces. An extensive tunnel system links all 31 buildings on campus, so I never have to walk outside in the winter, when getting to classes.
Carleton University is well known for its great financial aid program - my high school average earned me a renewable 4-year scholarship, which covers almost all of my tuition fees!
One more thing that I love about Carleton is its many unique study locations, from busy to quiet, from cozy to formal, from group study rooms to modern labs - it's so easy to suit any mood.
The time I spend at Carleton is enjoyable and productive.
