Bio

Hey y'all!

My name is David J. Ortiz-Leon, and I am an Applied Computing Major @ ASU West!
I'm from Phoenix, Arizona born and raised, and have been in higher education for 6 years now. It is crazy to think that I am finally wrapping up after all this time, but I'm excited to start using my skillset and pursuing future ventures. Ideally, I would like to get a few years of industry experience before expanding my skillset further into more advisory roles regarding data and privacy. My dream job is to actually serve as a data and privacy consultant for lawmakers, and help educate folks on what all those Terms and Conditions mean (I know we all just click through them without reading lol).

Why Programming
I would be lying if I said it was my first pick, truthfully money was the initial driving factor. While in high school however I entered my first programming course and would continue this pathway into community college. Now at Phoenix College, I had noticed the disproportionate amount of students who didn't have the high school level introduction I did. While I was attending a course in North Phoenix I am from the Central Phoenix area, and I realized that I had only gotten that exposure because I went to a school outside of my zip code. Reflecting on this, I decided I wanted to continue my career and education to bridge this gap. Whether it was introducing programming to students at my college's Robotics Club or becoming a part of the Verizon Innovative Learning staff to teach 3D Printing at Paradise Valley Community College I have been trying to do my part. I have now since moved my work to both offering enriching opportunities like this will educate the youth today on how battling these disparities not only embraces diversity but also leads to more professional workplaces.

UPDATE: 2023

As I conclude my program now, I find that the classes I take are reflecting more of what I may actually be doing in the field a bit better, since writing the prior section I feel more confident in my work and purpose. More than anything, I want to educate people on both the power of data as well as their own rights!

What I do in my Freetime

When I'm not at school, I spend a lot of my time with my dogs Oli, Mambo (the 2 Yorkies in the video), and Bruno (the Pitbull below). I'm a super big dog person!

Aside from that traveling is something I love; nothing gives more satisfaction than telling someone I'm out of town without lying. I have so far covered almost all of the Pacific Coast, but I'm hoping to start heading out east (I might hitch a ride with my circus friends lol [update 2023: I am hoping to do this right after graduation]). I also try to still skate so I stay active, plus I just love hauling out on the road and on campus while I blare music in my ears.