About
Hey! My name is Kerick Howlett, and at 7 feet tall, I believe that it’s safe to assume that I’m one of the tallest developers around.
History
I’m from Louisville, Kentucky, born and raised, in front of the computer is where I spent most of my days. Tinkering away at it, always eager to learn all the fantastic new things that the world can throw at me each and everyday. When I really started getting into computers and the technology in general was back in high school, where I attended at Trinity. They had a fantastic computer lab with top-of-the-line classes and instructors to teach things like Web Development, basic programming, and networking, and I was eager to learn it all. So it seemed only natural that my next stop would be to major in Computer Science once I graduated and headed off to college.
At the beginning, I originally majored in Information Security when I started at the University of Louisville, thinking that might be something I could really get into. After all, I was and still am a major movie buff, and really enjoyed movies always liked to see myself as the guy that could do all sorts of crazy things from behind the keyboard, even if 90% of it was completely made-up and absolutely ludicrous. However, by the time I started my internship at the University of Louisville’s Advancement Department, I quickly learned that not only did I discover a much greater joy in programming, but I had a much better knack for it. Needless, to say I ended up choosing the red pill and set my sights on becoming a Application Developer, Full-Stack Developer, Software Engineer; and that’s what I ended up becoming, even today.
The Man Behind the Keyboard
Most people often don’t pay attention to the man behind the keyboard when it comes to the apps or sites they interact with everyday, but we can be some interesting people. I like to think of myself as not being an exception.
My mind often wanders more than a nomad and is always restless. It’s hunger can sometimes feel insatiable, and will call upon me to dabble into one of my many interests. Whether it’d be looking up at the stars and casually study up on theoretical quantum and astral physics, or even if it’s something as simple as researching up on Google to sate my ever-growing curiosity. I’ve even been considering reading up on the original Sherlock Holmes books and short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle after becoming a huge fan of the BBC show “Sherlock”, as well as the centuries old Chinese tale, “Journey to the West”, to get a feel of traditional Eastern folk-tales and philosophies for a change. Because of my light endeavors, I often say that my mind is an encyclopedia of useless information, but that doesn’t make it any less intriguing - at least to me.
As I’ve said before, I’m a huge movie buff that has a collection of over 300 movies and TV shows on DVD and Blu-Ray. I love them so much that I developed a strong appreciation for the craft of visual storytelling. The “science” that goes behind in writing a compelling piece of fiction and the skill behind the camera that it takes to acquire the perfect shot. Of course, there’s also the effort into the special and visual effects into creating, what is commonly referred to as “Hollywood Magic”. Even stronger still, is my love for the creator’s mind and passion when creating the lore behind a story of any movie, series, or even a novel. Which is why I’m a pretty avid fan of comic book movies, such as “The Dark Knight” or “Captain America: Civil War”. In fact, they make a pretty good chunk of my “Encyclopedia of Useless Information”, as I let myself become enraptured with their trivial details and fictitious history. But of course, I’m also a fan of simpler movies, too, like dramas, comedies, mindless action films. Who doesn’t love “Army of Darkness”? No one, that’s who! Hail to the King, baby!
Aspirations
Besides my career aspirations, I have some for my personal life as well.
Like I mentioned before, I love movies, books, and even comics and whatever else that fiction can be tied to. What I love the most with all those things are the story, as well as anything else that’s creative. I generally like to write, though; I’ve been too busy with other things to do too much of that as of late, unfortunately. I would one day like to write my own series of novels with the hope that they’d be sold in bookstores, Amazon, and the like. Not so much for the money or the possible prestige (though that’s always a plus). It’s more for the pride that I was able to create something that was worth to go alongside other great works like “Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones”. Who knows? Maybe they’ll make it to a movie if I ever get it out there. That would truly be a dream come true if the purchasing studio did it right.
Traveling would be nice, too, but I’m not one for tropical climates. I would like to go to checkout more culturally, or even technologically rich countries, like somewhere out in Japan. While stopping out in Tokyo would be nice, I hear it’s way too crowded, so perhaps one day I could checkout some of the Shinto shrines out in the Okayama prefecture instead. Or maybe I could checkout some of the historical sights of something more traditional, like go checkout some rustic locations out in Italy or Germany. Just about anything sounds good, really, as long as I can at least experience one or two environments that greatly differ than the one I grew up in all my life. As much as I love to live in Louisville, there is so much out there that I don’t know or have yet to experience.
Life’s too short to not go out there and experience or learn something that could completely change the way you look at things. That’s why I indulge my mind whenever it roams free: to embrace new worlds and new outlooks on a reality that is always changing with perspective.
