about — John G Holland

Growing up I always enjoyed making things, playing with toys, taking things apart, and either putting them back together or creating something from the deconstruction. That curiosity and drive to discover has led me through many adventures and projects throughout my life. From building a petal powered car in Odyssey of the Mind to beginning to learn to paint, the pure joy of wonder and understanding have helped me answer "how does that work," and "how would you to that?"

I couldn't read very well at all when I was younger. When other kids were learning what reading was all about, I was learning that you could make pictures of really cool robots and drawing "inventions" - some of which were really cool (I thought (at the time (and kind of still do))). I went from a 4th grade reading level in 8th grade to post high school in 9th. As you could imagine, that changed a lot for me, but 13 years of coping mechanisms for avoiding or working around reading as much as possible doesn't just go away. While high school was difficult in some ways for me, I like to think I've used what I learned in early life in a positive way, allowing me to pursue and consider goals others find insane.

I'm a software engineer by trade, and a computer scientist by passion. I've enjoyed learning many languages over the years, and have only had a growing appreciation for computer science. My first engineering love was simple machines, then robots, digital electronics - then in late high school and throughout college, my respect for software turned into a deep dive into the software world, a world in which I largely still live.

While I learned quite a lot, my high school did not have an art program, and...

I ... forgot about art

For about 10 years. That's an over simplification, as the high school I went to did not have an art program. While I sketched & doodled throughout high school and college, it wasn't until I got an iPad and started *doodling* *in earnest* that I discovered how much it really meant to me. Um, a lot. It means a lot to me. I got more serious, I started taking classes, annoying my family with lots of "hey have you seen this?", and before I knew it a part of me that had been sleeping is now awake, and refuses to go back to sleep.