Alan Petersen:
CLASS OF 1985
Ft. Saskatchewan High SchoolClass of 1985
Ft. saskatchewan, AB
Ft. Saskatchewan Junior High SchoolClass of 1982
Ft. saskatchewan, AB
Rudolph Hennig SchoolClass of 1980
Ft. saskatchewan, AB
V. P. Carswell SchoolClass of 1976
Trenton, ON
Prince Charles SchoolClass of 1973
Trenton, ON
Alan's Story
Life
After leaving the Fort, I studied Experimental Psychology at the University of Alberta, where I managed to get a BSc. I couldn't figure out what "real world" job to do, so I moved to Los Angeles to go to graduate school. I went to the University of Southern California, where I obtained my MA in Cognitive Psychology. My field of study was artificial intelligence. I worked for the university for a while (just couldn't get away from college life!) in the computer services department. I also taught in the School of Engineering. I got involved in the Internet early on (like 1993), and that's where I tended to focus my work. I left USC to start a company with a couple of friends. That was fine for a few years but things didn't work out. Almost 3 years ago I was hired by Sun Microsystems as an instructor. I was recently "sold" to another company and decided that the corporate life was not for me. I've since quit that job and am now an independent consultant. I moved to Tucson, AZ with my girlfriend where we just bought a house. It's quite a change from my city life!
Since leaving Alberta in 1991, I have only been back a couple of times (never in the winter, though :^) I do miss the snow, a little, and the fun times I had in the Fort. If anyone's ever down here in Tucson, drop me a line: AlanPetersen at mac dot com -- we can do lunch!
School
I'm sure that if I were a student today, I'd be diagnosed with ADD. I never seemed to be able to concentrate on anything for a long time. I guess that's why my insterests have jumped around throughout my life!
College
My undergraduate life is pretty much a blur... I worked part time for my entire undergraduate education, often working two jobs in the summer. Yikes, to think...Expand for more
of the time wasted! I made many friends at my jobs, but never really got to know people at the U of A.
Graduate school was a totally different story. I worked in a small group of psychologists, linguists, and computer scientists. I made several good friends there and we were united by our common grad-school experience. Not to mention I was the "exotic foreigner"! I found that Americans in LA have a very romantic notion of Canada! Woo hoo!
Workplace
I've had so many different jobs, I feel like quite the MacGuyver. I worked at a ski hill in Alberta (the ski tech and also entertainer for the kids!); Alberta Hospital as a lab tech; Kasper as a lab assistant in microbiology; the U of A as a research assistant and teaching assistant; Provincial Labs analyzing water samples (ick!); a road crew paving Alberta highways in the summer (hot!); USC library as a programmer; lecturer at California State University, Long Beach; a computer consulant working for various companies like Hughes and Sprint; and most recently Sun Microsystems. Throughout the various jobs, I've had the opportunity to work with many great people and establish several lasting friendships.
Now I'm doing consulting work for various companies. It's nice because it gives me the ability to choose my own schedule, take long vacations (I spent 6 weeks in Europe last summer), and answer to noone. I think I'm working harder than when I was employed full time, though. Most of the time I work from my home office, where I have a nice view of the mountains in Tucson, AZ. I occasionally travel around still. I've had the opportunity to go back to Canada a few times in the last few months to teach classes, which has been nice. It's cool to see money in different colors!
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