Hi, my name is Ana, and I do a lot of things, and I am passionate about each of them. Today I will talk about myself, some of my different “faces” and maybe some of my philosophies. If you keep on reading my blogs, you’ll continue to get to know me, for sure!

First of all, I’m a student in the School of Computer Science and I really love it.  I like building stuff and making it work, and I like solving problems – (good) hacking. My degree is in Artificial Intelligence but there’s something interesting to learn from each course or aspect of CS, and when you can’t find a good challenge you can just create your own! In my case, the truth is I do fall behind with my studying from time to time and I can’t really solve as many problems as I want to, not yet at least. But uni isn’t just about that. It’s also about getting to know yourself and trying out real life. (photo: hacking at GreatUniHack)

Here comes my second “face”: I am a people’s person, which is quite weird because I am also an introvert who enjoys spending a lot of time alone. However, there is no point in solving problems if you don’t do it for other people. Coming to uni is the best opportunity for both working on your social life and devoting time to the community. That is why I became a fundraiser and a student rep for the school and also became a more talkative person who loves to party! My piece of advice is to pay attention and ask meaningful questions because everybody knows
something that you don’t and you never know who’s going to be your golden treasure. (photo: selling Romanian amulets for charity)

And finally I will reveal my third face; I am an artist. I’ve been an artist my whole life, and I continue to surround myself with art. I’m the one who dances until there’s no one left on the floor, the one who plays the guitar until her fingers bleed, the one who paints with her whole body, the one who keeps on running because the beat feels so alive and the one who discovers a new type of art every day. Manchester is filled with all kinds of art; with its wide range of cultural attractions and there’s plenty of space for your own! (photo: singing in the gospel choir)

So the answer to the question “What do I do?” is not that obvious. I’m not 100% a computer scientist, and even if I wanted to be, I couldn’t. In fact, if I were one, I’d no doubt be working on a project now instead of babbling away on this blog. However, this is the career that best suits my personality and helps me understand my life as a whole. I might be too much of a Carrie Bradshaw for “Hack and the city”, but I think that being successful in your career isn’t as important as being you. Now, what do YOU do?