Hello, my name is Tori Wilbon.  Currently, I am a freshman at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) with a major in Computer Science.  I became interested in computers in middle school.  The computer class showed me how easy I understood, and grasped the information.  After taking classes in high school like web design I saw how much I enjoy programming. So, in high school I made the decision that I want to major Computer Science concentration Information Systems in college. 

During the summer of 2013, I came to Elizabeth City State University to participate in a program called Viking Enhancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (VESTEM).  In this program I did research with Mrs. Shanta Armwood Outlaw.  In my project we analyzed traditional herbs on Brine Shrimp.  The processes we went through were phytochemical screening, refluxation, and dilution.  This training gave me an intensive review of the research process.

As an incoming freshman, I was awarded the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research (CERSER) scholarship, which is led by Dr. Linda Hayden.  I am very grateful and excited to see what is in store for me through this program.  This program has presented training in GPS, GIS, digital cameras, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Dreamweaver.

During the year of the Spring semester or 2014 I was apart of a research group called the Multimedia Team, with my mentor Jeff Wood. Our research was on processing images from a TeraScan system to a database, by using languages such as PHP and MySQL. We also corrected issues from the server directory and updated the 2011 redesign server script to process the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) images. This project taught me a lot about programming ad trouble shooting; it was a wonderful experience.

In the future I hope to do internships and continue on to graduate school.  I have looked into different occupations and the one that has piqued my interest is data visualization.  The use of graphics and animations to visually represent data is intriguing to me.  Data visualization can be utilized in the fields of geography, architecture, and engineering as well as many others. I realize that this will entail high level of programming skills, which will provide me with a wide range of options in the computer field.