I'm a compulsive puzzle nerd, and that admittedly played a part in my decision to branch off from a career in classical music to pursue software engineering. But ultimately, I'm most motivated by real-world problems, and the potential of technology to help solve them.

Here are some areas I particularly care about and would be genuinely excited to work in as an engineer:

• climate change, green energy, and sustainability
• security and threat detection
• non-meat proteins
• healthcare access and quality
• good education for everyone who wants it
• generally, anything that improves the functioning of a real-world system that stands to benefit a large swath of people