Karen Palmer
Big Picture Thinking: Karen Palmer (MET’19) is One Degree Closer to Dream of Teaching Software
Karen Palmer
Platform Software Engineer, Pazien
2019 Excellence in Graduate Studies Award Winner for Software Development
MS in Software Development (MET’19); BS, Boston University;
AS, MassBay Community College
What do you find most fascinating about the discipline of software development? Do you have a particular focus within the broader field?
I have always loved the way that developers have to keep thinking in two ways—the “big picture” and the details. When I work on projects, and when I help students as a teaching assistant and facilitator, the project always starts with a high-level pseudo-code. Get the big picture down first, then concentrate on the details of the code to create that big picture.
The requirements to think in big terms as well as in the low-level details almost at the same time is endlessly challenging, but in a good way. Things are always different and interesting!
Did you always intend on going back to school, or did the need arise at a particular moment?
I graduated high school in 1982 and started nursing school right away. But my first pediatrics patient had leukemia and was going to die before his fourth birthday. At 18, I wasn’t ready for that, so I left the nursing program.
While in high school, part of the honors math classes included programming in Fortran on a small 4341 mainframe the school had. I had always enjoyed that, so I went to a six-month programming school. Once I finished, I started work as a programmer trainee at Amica Mutual Insurance Company in 1984 at the age of 19. I didn’t intend to go back to school because for the next 25 years there was no need to!
In late 2008, my husband was laid off from his programming and tech support job with a large software vendor. That is when I decided to go back. He started his new job in November 2009, and I went back to college in January 2010.
Congratulations on your high achievement in the Master of Science in Software Development (MSSD) program and your Award for Excellence in your studies! Looking back, what do you consider to be the main ingredients of your success?
For me, having other students to study with is the main ingredient to my success. Attending college while also working full-time requires lots of juggling. I think it would be easier to put off homework responsibilities if I was “going it alone.” By having study group meetings on specific days each week during the semester, I found I got my work done earlier and more consistently so that I was ready for study group.
Another major ingredient is the support I received from my family, my boss, and the folks I work with. They were always encouraging me and taking over the occasional task so I could get something done.
How were you able to successfully balance your studies with your commitments outside the classroom?
Some serious sleep deprivation! I also had to choose carefully what I watched on TV—it’s so easy to lose time.
I kept my eye on the prize and that helped a lot. I was a TA for the undergraduate course Computer Architecture (MET CS 472) for the two years between graduating from BU with my bachelor’s and starting back on my master’s—which actually helped me because the discipline of getting homework done at odd hours never actually left!
Was your success in the program driven by a particular outcome—such as professional advancement, educational achievement, personal satisfaction, or something else?
I was taking Discrete Math in the summer of 2013 with Dr. Anatoly Temkin, and he said something along the lines of, “Come back and get your master’s so you might teach here.” Teaching is something I’ve always wanted to do and it was one of the reasons that I started study groups. To have a professor recognize that in me and encourage me in that way was transformational. The idea of teaching (facilitating online classes, then maybe getting a face-to-face class) definitely contributed to my desire to get my master’s!
Is there a particular course or project that enhanced your experience in the MSSD program?
One of my favorite projects was for Database Design and Implementation for Business (MET CS 669), and it involved implementing a Netflix-type business. It was by far my largest project, resulting in a paper of over a hundred pages, including the design of the database and all the SQL that would support the database.
The other class that gave me the best projects was Data Structures and Algorithms (MET CS 526). There were nine projects, each focusing on using different data structures and explaining our choices on which structures to use by discussing the algorithms and efficiencies of them. Combining data structures and algorithms increased the practicality of both and the class was just awesome. The final project in that class also resulted in a really nice paper!
How do you plan to apply the skills and competencies you gained during your studies moving forward? What is next in store for you?
I currently work as a platform software engineer with Pazien, a wholly owned subsidiary of Worldpay, an international company that provides secure payment services for small and large businesses, including online payments, payments through card machines, and telephone payments. I am already a software developer who has worked with everything from mainframes in the early 80s through all kinds of technologies, and now I’m working on systems using AWS, MongoDB, and Python. I just plan on continuing in my career, making the best choices I can. With the education I just finished and the decades of experience I have, I feel ready to do almost anything!
You were recognized by faculty and peers for your hard work and dedication to the MSSD program. What “words of advice” or encouragement have served as a guiding principle, or simply inspiration, for you?
For me, knowing why I was continuing my education—and frequently thinking about the advantages I would have when it was finally completed—kept me going. I wanted to teach, so I needed my master’s. Related to that, working with other students, whether in study groups or on assigned projects, helped me keep going because of the love I have of sharing knowledge. That also helped me limit my procrastinating because I knew others were depending on me getting my work done on time!