iSchool Student Spotlight: Robin Sodeman

Robin: I'm from Highland High School, a rural school west of Yakima, WA.

Silverfish: Why did you decide to enroll in the Informatics program?

Robin: I was a Mac Tech in high school and it led me to an interest in technology. Dean Mike visited my Fig (Freshman Interest Group) as a freshman to talk about info, which is when I became interested in the program.

Silverfish: What is the topic of your capstone project?

Robin: Collaborative communication technology and university students (i.e., U. students using groupware or project management software to facilitate large group projects).

Silverfish: What was process like of putting together the capstone project?

Robin: Frustrating but fun. It was a large project to take on by myself, but rewarding at the same time. I started out doing a lot of background research, obtaining a lot of sources. It was relatively simple to come up with a research design, although it changed considerably throughout the project. It was very important to stay flexible!

Silverfish: What is your favorite part about the project?

Robin: My favorite part of the project was practicing writing about it so many times. We had to present our research in many different formats, a CHI short paper, a poster, a presentation, and a large research report. It was good practice and helped us to analyze the process.

Silverfish: What was the most challenging aspect of the project?

Robin: The most challenging aspects were recruiting participants and dealing with issues that came up out of my control, but still having time constraints to deal with.

Silverfish: Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of school?

Robin: I guess, although they've definitely lessened since joining [the iSchool] (laughs). I practice yoga at least once a week although I'm not taking any formal classes at the moment. I also enjoy playing the guitar and singing. I used to sing in the UW choir but haven't had time for that recently.

Silverfish: Are you graduating? If so, what are your plans after graduation?

Robin: I am graduating in June. I'm moving to Ohio in July to train for a position as a traveling consultant for my national sorority for a year. After that I will hopefully be attending grad school focusing on Human-Computer Interaction.

Robin Sodeman