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About Me

Hi there! I'm Marc, a Software Developer and graudate from Stony Brook University.

Education

Fall of 2017 was my first semester enrolled as an undergraduate student at Stony Brook University. I started out pursuing a degree in Computer Science, though I transitioned over to Information Systems. The difference to me was brilliantly explained by a mentor as such: "Computer Science majors are an inch wide and a mile deep in their knowledge, whereas Information Systems majors are an inch deep and a mile wide." Translation: where CS focuses heavily on several topics, IS focuses lightly on many topics.

There are certainly benefits to having people with the expansive programming knowledge you get as a Computer Science major. However, through my experience teaching and managing a team with FIRST Robotics, and learning about different programming and sys/admin technologies with Palace Network, I decided to be "an inch deep and a mile wide," so to speak.

FIRST Robotics

I started in FIRST Robotics as a member of my high school's team - Team 514. This club is what helped spur my interest in software development and engineering. I participated on the team for all four years in high school, and spent time as a member of the drive team - the students that operate our robot on the field - in my senior year.

Since graduating in 2017, I've continued to support the team as a programming mentor. Using the WPILib Java framework developed and maintained by students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the students on our programming team are responsible for writing the code that helps the drive team operate our robot and complete complex tasks.

Palace Network

Right as I entered high school, I joined the Minecraft Theme Park community as a staff member of the MCMagic Minecraft server. Where robotics introduced me to the concept of writing code, this Minecraft server allowed me to expand on my knowledge. I spent many days (and nights) going through tutorials and learning all I could about Java, HTML/CSS, and MySQL.

After the transition to Palace Network, around the time that I graduated high school and started my undergraduate career, I continued learning more and more about different technologies. More Java, PHP, JavaScript, MongoDB, Node.js/React, TypeScript, InfluxDB...

I'm grateful for the community that has grown around Minecraft Theme Parks over the years. Even more than that, I'm very grateful for the opportunities I was presented with to learn all that I do about software development and system adminstration. Not everyone has a Minecraft server with a consistent playerbase to experiment different programming ideas and technologies on. And, even though the server might not be around anymore, I still cherish the memories I made!