GirlGeek of the Week
November 2000

Audrey Lynn

When Audrey started technical school, in a curriculum focusing on electronics, she knew little more than how to turn on a PC and do basic word processing and data entry. She figured the experience would be a working introductory and foundation for getting into an Electronics Engineering program.

Then a funny thing happened. There were also people (almost all men) in those same classes who were just getting into computers. Audrey and her classmates were learning not just about how to use the machine but more about the inner workings of the beast (computers, microchips, electricity, etc.). The group dynamic was great and the enthusiasm for learning computers was even better. Through the interests of her classmates, Audrey learned that there are a lot more available opportunities in the computer field than what she had originally thought. Her interests grew and she grabbed the opportunities. She had become a GirlGeek.

When did you first discover your love and/or obsession with computers and technology?

About three or four years ago, I finally realized that what my life was lacking was intellectual challenge. It took some intense searching to discover that computers and technology were the only fields of interest changing fast enough to keep me interested that did not involve bodily fluids [i.e., medicine and or biotechnology].

How do you earn a living?

I am a LAN technician and administrator.

Do you consider yourself a Geek?

YES!

What is your favorite Website?

Ask.com - you can find out all sorts of cool stuff from good ol' Jeeves.

What do you do when you are not working?

Relax! I enjoy talk radio [never music], movies, ethnic dining, hanging out with my cats, talking with friends, swimming, dating, enjoying nature, the outdoors, 35mm photography, and learning new things.

Who is the person you most admire?

Marie Curie. As I have learned about her life and the struggles she went through being a woman in a man's world back in the days before women were even able to vote in this country, I am continually taken aback. She literally changed the world with her unending research and devotion to scientific and medical pursuits. During WWI with a Nobel Prize in Physics and a second Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Marie and her daughter Irene (a future Nobel prize winner) traveled behind the front lines where they taught field doctors and nurses in field hospitals how to use X-ray equipment to locate shrapnel in the body before surgery. She pioneered cancer research. She spent her latter years traveling the United States fighting for women's suffrage. I could go on and on. She was amazing!

When and where were you the happiest?

I am happier now than I have ever been in my life. I expect the happiest days are yet to come.

If you could have one super power what would it be?

I would possess a self-cleaning house.