Hello Team,
We are starting a new series of emails called, “Get to know your fellow swimmers”. Our first featured swimmer is Elia Wu Anderson. Here’s Elia and see attached for her picture.
Q: Where were you born?
A: Shanghai, China
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: Shanghai
Q: Where did you go to college?
A: My BS was done in East China Normal Univ (with Electronic Physics and EE majors). My parents seemed to believe that I would have a much better future in US due to my free spirit and nonconformity, which were seriously discouraged by the China’s ruling party at the time, so I started my journey here in the states for my Masters and PhD study (in Computer Science, at CUNY – the only university that I could afford at the time😊).
Q: What job/career do (or did) you have after college?
A: I enjoyed teaching at CUNY and ISU (Discrete Math, Data Structure, Programming Languages, etc.) for about 5-6 years collectively before settling down here in bay area as a software engineer many moons ago. I think I’m still more attracted to the creative & abstract side of the academic/research environment back then than the somewhat mundane & well-defined engineering world which I’ve been in for the last 2 plus decades.
Q: What is one (or two or three) fun facts that you’d like to share about yourself? (special skills/talents/interests, accomplishments, places you’ve been to, etc.)
A: Special skills –
Younger years: Skipping school on regular basis to play with boys in the wild 😊without my parents (or even my teachers 😊) knowing… and managing to do very well grades wise.
Middle aged years: Writing computer programs and composing sappy songs in my dreams 😊; Finding interconnection between objects in two seemingly unrelated universes such as English grammar and Boolean algebra 😊…
Nowadays: Cooking/creating ultra-healthy food without recipes 😊, which I’m unsure is qualified as a skill? Sprouting grains, nuts and legume to remove antinutrients in my food seems to have been given higher priority than debugging software at work 😊…
Interests –
Ballroom dancing for sure! – Wish my parents had allowed me to dance when I was young… To burn off my desire of expressing myself thru dancing/body moves, I did my own “acrobatic” acts 😊 at home by flipping down from stacked tables & chars &… I still have scars from that era to show off 😊.
The great OUTDOORS including swimming of course (and boogie-boarding too among other sports) – Only wish I joined MVM much EARLIER (instead of after having retired from ballroom competition)!
“Secret” love for teddy bears with expressive eyes 😊- Well, I’d better not elaborate on the child side of me😊…
Accomplishments –
Not much other than the fact that I’ve raised my son exceptionally well! Some winnings from national and international ballroom comps and some winnings from bay area short distance running races, which are all in the past though. My latest “accomplishment” is to have obtained extensive knowledge about food & nutrition 😊.
It would be a REAL accomplishment if I could swim faster! – I joined MVM some 10 years ago as a new swimmer in lane #2 (and moving towards lane #3) but now am working hard to stay in lane #1 😊, worrying there isn’t lane #0.5 if I get even slower! I think my technique has improved quite a bit over the years with coaches’ BIG help but perhaps my improvement speed isn’t catching up with my aging rate 😊?
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