Hello everyone, my full name is Alexander Larsen, but you can call me Alex. I'm originally from Michigan, but I came out West for Computer Science. This is my third quarter TAing, and I'm ready for another online quarter. It's a bummer that we have to be remote again, but I'll do all that I can to make the online experience not as painful as it can be.

 And now a little bit about myself! I love to play video games, and I'm pretty sure I'm the biggest Nintendo fan on the planet (if anyone wants to play Smash Brothers or Animal Crossing anytime just let me know). I'm a junior here and I'm an Oceanography major. I also like to make games sometimes, read, and hike! I'm left handed, and I've jumped out of a plane before. I also can solve a Rubik's cube in under 40 seconds, just don't ask me to prove it because I'm rusty. I've just started playing the Persona series and I've been having a lot of fun there. I was gonna update my about me page to be persona-themed but I ran out of time so maybe I'll do that sometime mid-way through the quarter!

 CSE 154 is an amazing class! I took it last fall, and I fell in love with it immediately. There are so many practical applications, but honestly, making websites is just fun. Despite this fun factor, it's not the easiest class I've ever taken, so I've compiled some tips and tricks that I probably should've followed when I took the class! Hopefully you can use these to your advantage through the quarter.

• Start Early! I'm definitely the type to procrastinate, but Web Dev takes wayyyy longer than you might think. Even reading the spec and then subsequently not touching the code for half a week is better than nothing. I would personally look at the spec when it comes out, think about it for a day or so, brainstorm for another day, and then finally sit down to code. The earlier I started on CSE 154 assignments, the better I did. It makes debugging way less stressful as well.
• Plan! I'm a firm believer in writing pseudo code or drawing out pictures to try and solve a problem. Drawing pictures, writing pseudo code, or anything that might help you visualize a problem will make it easier to break down into smaller, more manageable pieces!
• Ask for help! (after exhausting all other resources). The website, and the internet are wonderful things. There are so many resources on the website itself you can use to your advantage. And if you can't figure out something on your own, you've got a whole staff full of talented, wonderful people who might be able to point you in the right direction! If you're in my section (or not) I love responding to emails, and my WPL hours are always open for you!
• Go(?) to lecture & section! Going to lecture is super important in this course to introduce you to the topics that are important for homework and exams/quizzes. If you skip lecture, you might be confused during section, which is one of the best times to work on and learn the topic being taught! There are even TAs there to answer any immediate confusions!

There are, of course plenty of other tips for success in this class. I can't think of them ALL off the top of my head, so if you're ever struggling with anything, feel free to contact me and I'll do my best to help out.

 Alright here's a fun slideshow thing. Click through to see a whole mix of pics ranging from me to memes.