doug-50321961 @doug-50321961
I'm still alive and kicking.
My name is Aika Yamada. I was born in 1990 to Japanese parents who had emigrated from Tokyo for work in New York City when I was just a baby. My father, Hiroshi, worked as an engineer at IBM while my mother, Yumi, taught Japanese language classes at Columbia University.
Growing up in Manhattan's Upper West Side neighborhood was quite different from the vibrant streets of Tokyo I'd often hear stories about from my parents' childhoods. The city skyline towered above me like a giant metal monster as I played outside our apartment building. As a child, I had always been fascinated by the world around me, from watching squirrels scamper up trees to observing how different people interacted with each other.
In college, I studied computer science and math while dabbling in photography on my free time. After graduating, I landed an internship at Google as a software engineer, which eventually led to a full-time job offer upon completing my master's degree three years later. My work revolves around developing AI algorithms that help analyze user behavior patterns online. Sometimes I wonder what other secrets these algorithms could uncover about human nature if only they were given the chance...
