Citizens Corner: Beth Myre
Upward Citizen Beth Myre is not your typical student co-worker. She boasts a B.A. in German and Linguistics, a Masters in Environmental Engineering, a double-minor in Russian and International Economic Development.
After years of international work in these fields, Beth found new inspiration in her full-time role for a translation company in the Greater Hartford Area:
“I became really interested in the intersection between language and technology, and started teaching myself basic coding,” recalls Beth. “I realized there was only so much I could teach myself before deciding to enroll in a post-baccalaureate B.S. degree in Computer Science.”
To maintain her full-time role at the translation company, Beth chose to pursue her studies via a flexible, online degree program offered by Oregon State University. Without a campus library, she began to search for local study spaces that would keep her inspired and focused in the evenings and on weekends. In Spring 2018, she met with Upward’s General Manager, Samantha Wanagel, for a tour of the newly-opened coworking space in downtown Hartford.
“I came in for the tour and just fell in love…the physical space is beautiful, the variation in seating options gives you a new point of view while you work - which is great for focus and productivity - and the fact that there are lectures and meetups on a bunch of different topics here in the evenings makes it a much more exciting workspace than a library.”
Fast-forward to December 2019, Beth has transitioned to a full-time student and is gearing up for a competitive summer internship with a Fortune 500 fintech company in California. Between now and June 2020, she is eager to meet with more Upward innovators to learn about their tech. “I’m happy to buy anyone a ~ free ~ cup of coffee here at Upward and chat about technology and different specializations within computer science!”