The Founders Society Spotlight: Sofia Nieves, 2010

Question 1: Can you tell us a little bit about what your career and personal life looks like these days?
I am a senior site reliability engineer in Brooklyn, New York. I spend a lot of time thinking about problem spaces like server system administration practices, operating system configuration management, and machine identity management on Linux and Windows servers in the cloud for a large tech company. I'll probably continue solving these types of problems at various different companies for the foreseeable future. It's a really satisfying career!

My personal life revolves around biking in the city, making and eating tasty food, getting through my Steam backlog, and reading lots of speculative fiction.

Question 2: Why did you choose to support the AoIT Alumni Association?
The allure of immortalizing a stupid message on a brick was too much for me to resist.

But more seriously, I'd been considering donating my time by applying to speak at TechFest, but that's somewhat impractical right now so I figured I'd donate money instead.

Question 3: Looking back, what did you enjoy most about Crooms AoIT?
There are two main things I really enjoyed about Crooms, and a third thing that that just happened to coincide with my time at Crooms.

One, I got to take several programming classes. Coding ability is a relatively uncommon skill in various IT operations jobs. Having this background really set me apart.

Two, I got two certifications—CompTIA A+ and Network+. These two certs helped me get my first job at a local Florida web hosting company the very same year I graduated from Crooms. There, I developed skills I rely on to this day.

Three, I attended Crooms 2006–2010, which was a very important time for the internet. "Web 2.0" was getting really big with social media sites really starting to hit their stride by providing platforms for user-generated content. I spent a lot of time absorbing that content on YouTube, reddit, Slashdot, and so on during these years. Having a laptop provided by the school really helped my immersion in web culture and my understanding of technology would not have been nearly as thorough without that immersion.

Question 4: What does the next 3-5 years look like for you?
I intend to stick around in New York and stay active in the local tech scene. I spend a lot of time at tech conferences and meetups; maybe someone will present me with a new exciting problem space to work in.

I'll hopefully still doing my best to avoid going into engineering management. I really enjoy solving things myself, but it's getting hard to avoid management since that's often the surest way to have the biggest impact.

Question 5: Any new "thing" or trend in technology that you're excited about?
I'm really enjoying watching various social media sites implode—it's been feeding the fediverse nicely. I tend to be wary of overcentralized services, so anything feeding the ActivityPub ecosystem gets my attention.

Question 6: Any advice you would give to current Croomies?
Stay curious. The technology we use every day is made of software running on hardware and can be decomposed. Always consider what underlies the conveniences built for you.

Updated: September 2023

The Founders Society was established in 2011 to recognize the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association's most generous benefactors. These individuals, couples, or companies have made significant one-time contributions during our capital fundraising periods for the advancement of Crooms AoIT. Society members are sending a message that philanthropic support of Crooms AoIT and the current student body is vital to our alma mater's future success. Their financial support is changing lives and helps promote a culture of community support and involvement. To learn more about The Founders Society visit www.croomsalumni.com/about/founders.