Welcome to DALI 17W!

Hello and welcome, people of DALI 17W! Many of you I already know, but for those of you who I have yet to meet, my name is Pat and I’m a ‘17 CS major and lead developer at DALI. I grew up in a small New England town on the coast of Massachusetts where I frequently devoured large plates of a regional specialty – fried seafood.

Clams, scallops, fish, shrimp. YUM.

DALI and I

Starting my sophomore fall, I applied to DALI three, maybe four times before I was finally accepted. Perhaps many of you can relate to my experience – my initial applications used code samples from class and showed basically zero real-world experience. When I finally got a chance to join DALI as a junior I felt a huge sense of accomplishment, but was also unbelievably nervous for the coming orientation (back then, we had only 2 days notice before orientation!).

Going on my 5th term here, DALI has become my most cherished community at Dartmouth. As a space to learn, being able to work closely with brilliant developers has given me the chance to learn new technologies (e.g. iOS) but also taught me real-world engineering practices (e.g. source control, linting, deployment), that are often overlooked in class. In terms of leadership, I’ve had the opportunity to serve as a Core (student staff) member for 3 terms, leading workshops, planning events, and just helping wherever I can to keep things running smoothly (I love working behind-the-scenes!). Finally, the space itself has become a relaxing and friendly place where I chat, nap, watch movies, and order late-night wings.

DALI has already given me a lot, but in the couple terms I have left at Dartmouth there are still a few things I want to focus on. Early during my time at DALI I worked on two iOS applications, BookUP and PinPoint, but in the 2 terms since then I have solely focused on my role as a project manager, developer resource, and staff member. It’s my goal in the next couple months to continue learning or improving on some technologies that I find interesting/useful/exciting, like React.

Something About Me

Photography is one of my favorite hobbies. I don’t have any formal training, and my skill using post-processing software is limited (these images here are basically unaltered), but I hope you enjoy a few of my favorites!

In Grand Teton National Park, inspired by Ansel Adams.

Sunset from a boat near my hometown.

My foray into nighttime photography, right outside my house!

Thanks for reading! In the couple weeks before term, feel free to find me on Slack, @patxu!