Hi! My name is Steve Smart and I am a passionate software developer, teacher, writer, and gamer! I first developed an interest in programming during my sophomore year of college at the University of Oklahoma when I took CS1313--Intro to Programming for Non-majors. I loved it so much that five years later, I became the instructor for that very same class! After earning a BS and MS in Computer Science at OU, I came to the University of Colorado, Boulder to pursue a PhD in Computer Science. I worked towards this for two years, but have since decided to put that pursuit on hold. I am now eager to get out into the industry and build meaningful software!
I was born and raised in Oklahoma, USA. I grew up in a medium sized town called Ardmore, Oklahoma. I have fond memories of my childhood, playing outside with the neighborhood kids, riding my bike around town, and playing video games with my two older brothers. I was homeschooled by my parents until the 8th grade. Being homeschooled has one significant advantage--you learn at your own pace! I am a fast learner so I harnessed my academic skills from an early age because I didn't need to follow any rigid lesson plans aimed at a class with a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses.
By the 8th grade, I developed a passion for sports, particularly football and golf. Being homeschooled, I was limited in my opportunities to compete in these sports, so I begged my parents to let me attend public school and I finally wore them down. I enrolled in Ardmore Middle School and played on the golf team and the football team. When I went on to attend Ardmore High School, I dropped football because I was a very small kid, but I continued playing golf all throughout high school and really enjoyed it. I did well academically in high school and I did well enough in golf to receive a scholarship to play at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. While I enjoyed playing golf at SOSU, I quickly realized that I was not good enough to make a career out of it, so I decided to focus on academics instead. This lead me to transfer to the University of Oklahoma.
Initially, I did not know what I wanted to study at OU, so I chose something that fit my strengths reasonably well--Mechanical Engineering. I did well in this area, but I lacked passion for the subject. Fortunately, while studying Mechanical Engineering I enrolled in a computer programming class for non Computer Science majors. Coding fascinated me. I was able to create technology with just some 1's, 0's, and my imagination! I finally found something I was passionate about and I quickly changed my major to Computer Science. I did well enough in Computer Science that I went ahead and added the accelerated BS/MS degree to my plan which enabled me to complete a Master's degree with just one extra year of studies due to an increased workload during the completion of my Bachelor's degree.
Before completing my Bachelor's degree, I became a TA in the department of Computer Science and discovered another passion of mine--teaching. Helping students learn interesting and often difficult concepts is incredibly fulfilling. Watching students have that "Aha moment", as a professor of mine often called it, is an experience unlike any other. During the completion of my Master's degree, I was given the opportunity to be the full instructor for the very same class that set me on this path--Intro to Programming for Non-majors. I loved teaching this class and I felt like I really excelled at it!
During the completion of my Master's degree I also got involved in doing Computer Science research in the OUDAL. To be honest, I didn't have a burning passion for doing research. Programming often only made up a small portion of research work in Computer Science and frequently the work is done alone. However, I really loved teaching, so I decided that I would pursue a career in academia in hopes of becoming a professor one day. That decision is what brought me to Colorado!
After deciding to pursue a career in academia, I applied to many PhD programs across the United States. I ended up getting accepted into the University of Colorado, Boulder where I began working towards a PhD in Computer Science. I began working on research projects centered around Data Visualization in the CU Visualab. While I loved the lab and everyone in it, I'm not sure that academic research is for me, and have decided to put the pursuit of a PhD on hold. I am now working as a Software Engineer at SearchSpring and I am really enjoying it.