Meet Dylan Hall, Chief Android Programmer at Drover Rideshare. The following text is in his words:
When I was 5 my parents bought a computer for the family to use – looking back on it I’m not sure why, they never used it. Regardless, that computer was one of the many aspects that made me who I am today. I spent my entire time in primary and secondary school engulfed in computers, learning how they worked and attempting to understand what caused them to break. I have been programming for 10 years.
I started out programming how most kids did during that time. Myspace. Myspace was actually really cool back then because it allowed the user to develop their own websites, embed custom applets and write hilarious scripts that would malform the user’s viewing experience. Two years passed after starting my ‘Myspace’ adventure and I was getting quickly bored, I had already discovered how to elevate myself to admin in my school’s domain, and had found a file that had the social security numbers of every parent(don’t worry, most software engineers follow a code of ethics that requires us to disclose security problems). I wanted more, I had a teacher in my freshman year of high school who approached me and asked me if I would like to learn Java -- a very common programming language. Mr. Logan was his name, and he was one of the most influential people in my life. He pushed me to pursue “programming” (back then I didn’t call myself a software engineer) and over the next four years I became extremely proficient in Java, and PHP.
When I left lower-education I was presented with a choice, music or software. My primary choice was actually music (funny enough, I spend around the same amount time playing music that I spend as an engineer), however I didn’t tell anyone this and over time I abandoned my musical desires for a more attainable one: Software Engineering. I left the small town I had lived in and came here to Cookeville, TN where I would study software engineering. My initial knowledge pool far surpassed that of what was being taught me in my first two years of college, and because of that I became accustomed to having free time. This free time generally allowed me to garnish even more upper-level knowledge.
I also began privately tutoring my peers in exchange for pizza – No, seriously... I am a pizza fiend. Those peers would go on to do some cool things. But one day I got a call from a previous tutee, and he asked me if I had time to work this summer. Now, honestly... I wanted to say ‘no’ and be done with it. I had taken a full load of classes every summer before, I wanted a vacation; but, I said yes and I don’t regret it for one second. I am now The Chief Android Programmer & Team Captain at Drover Rideshare Co. And I love it. Getting to develop an application that will help millions of people is amazing. Drover is most likely one of the best places to work in the country, and I expect that over the years, we will be in the new ‘Top 10 Best Places to Work’ articles that pop up every so often. Such a driven and charitable company will no doubt succeed... Plus, They’ve got me to help :).
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Patrizio Murdocca is Chief Web Developer at Drover Rideshare, a student at Vanderbilt University, and President of Interfaced Ministries (www.interfacedministries.org).
