Hi, My Name is Tal

My goal at Oakland Coders Club is to encourage students to explore and expand their creativity through code, while also picking up a little logic and math along the way. I’m equal parts terrified and excited about nearly every aspect of this endeavor, so let’s just keep this moving!

My Background

I studied Math and Computer Science at UCLA. From there, I worked as a "quant" at a large investment firm writing computer algorithms that identified patterns in data (sometimes making our clients money, sometimes losing them money, and often not understanding why!).

Besides completely burning out and becoming hopelessly jaded, it afforded me the means to say goodbye to the corporate world (for now) and pursue a funky, complicated, semi-failing freelancing career as a data scientist and technologist. That path hasn’t been easy, but it’s given me the flexibility to be more involved in our thriving Oakland community.

And Here We Are

Last year, I volunteered as a math assistant in my son’s 1st-grade class at Montclair Elementary School. This year, in his 2nd-grade class, I switched from math to coding. In all, it’s been way more fun and rewarding than I ever could have imagined. Watching kids learn, create, and inspire one another is just the coolest damn thing.

I’m not sure Oakland Coders Club will work out quite the same way, but I’d love to give it a shot—and I hope you will too.