Past Now Pages: What I’ve Done - Leo Alexander Glowacki

Fall 2020

This semester, I am taking 8 credit hours at Ohio State, working part-time, serving as the Education Director for the Big Data and Analytics Association, and focusing on a few habits for my personal growth and well-being.

I’m just taking a few classes to finish up my Data Analytics major and general education requirements:

Statistical Learning (STAT 4620)
Advanced Artificial Intelligence (CSE 5522)
Intro to Environmental Science (ENR 2100)

I work for LARI Life Settlement as a data science development consultant. LARI is a life settlement exchange providing investors with a platform for researching and securing life settlement assets. The exchange maintains life insurance financial data and medical data covering the insured. In the past I have worked independently on various projects using the Podio API, Globiflow, ProcFu, PHP, Amazon Web Services (S3, MySQL, etc.), Python, and Natural Language Processing to export insurance cases, generate statistics on cases, extract relevant medical conditions from medical files, as well as various other projects. Much of this work is performed remotely, with trips for team meetings.

Additionally, I am the Education Director of the Big Data & Analytics Association (BDAA). We aim to inspire students to think analytically, empower them through hands-on training, and connect them to potential employers. As the Education Director, I am responsible for all educational training events. In June, I became a certified R Studio instructor in order to give our members higher quality workshops. This semester, I am leading a series of workshops introducing freshmen to data analytics that includes a basic introduction to data analytics, an introduction to exploratory data analysis (EDA) in R, and an introduction to machine learning in R. I will be leading various other workshops throughout the semester such as a Tableau dashboarding workshop and a web scraping workshop, as well as coordinating other workshops to be led by our professional sponsors, professors at Ohio State, and other members of the data analytics community. Additionally, I manage our Coursera scholarship program.

I am also a member of the Beta Xi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for music, and a member of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory (CSML).

Outside of this, I have the following commitments to myself in order to live a balanced and healthy life:

Working out in the morning every weekday
Meditating in the morning every weekday
Doing at least one Duolingo lesson every day
- 500 day streak so far! (9/25/20)
Reading in the evening before bed on SuMTuWTh

Summer 2020

This summer, I am taking a few classes, working part-time, and focusing on a few habits for my physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

I’m just taking a few classes to finish up my General Education requirements:

German III (German 1103.61)
Holocaust Literature and Film (German 3252.02)
Video Game Music (Music 2254)

I consult for LARI Life Settlement as a Data Science Developer. LARI is a life settlement exchange providing investors with a platform for researching and securing life settlement assets. The exchange maintains life insurance financial data and medical data covering the insured. In the past I have worked independently on various projects using the Podio API, Globiflow, ProcFu, PHP, Amazon Web Services, Python, and Natural Language Processing to export insurance cases, generate statistics on cases, and extract relevant medical conditions from medical files, as well as various other projects. Much of this work is performed remotely, with trips for team meetings, however, this summer is completely remote with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, I am the Education Director of the Big Data & Analytics Association (BDAA). We aim to inspire students to think analytically, empower them through hands on training, and connect them to potential employers. As the Education Director, I am responsible for all educational training events. This summer, I am managing a few programs, such as our Coursera scholarship program, supporting students individually, and figuring out how to proceed in the fall with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this summer, I became the first undergraduate student to be a certified RStudio Instructor. This certification process includes multi-day training classes, and one must pass both a teaching exam and a Tidyverse exam.

My current daily habits are designed to keep me moving, healthy, and fulfilled:

Walk, Run, or Bike
Small Strength Workout
Meditate
Duolingo Lesson
Read

Spring 2020

This semester, I am taking 16 credit hours at Ohio State, working part-time, serving as the Education Director for the Big Data and Analytics Association, performing research in the music cognition lab, and focusing on a few habits for my personal growth and well-being.

The classes I’m taking now are as follows:

Introduction to Network Science (CSE 5245)
Statistical Modeling for Discovery II (STAT 3302)
Bayesian Analysis and Statistical Decision Making (STAT 3303)
Visual Analytics to Support Sensemaking (ISE 5760)
German II Online (GERMAN 1101.61)

I work a minimum of ten hours a week for LARI Life Settlement as a Data Science Developer. LARI is a life settlement exchange providing investors with a platform for researching and securing life settlement assets. The exchange maintains life insurance financial data and medical data covering the insured. In the past I have worked independently on various projects using the Podio API, Globiflow, ProcFu, PHP, Amazon Web Services, Python, and Natural Language Processing to export insurance cases, generate statistics on cases, extract relevant medical conditions from medical files, as well as various other projects. Much of this work is performed remotely, with trips for team meetings.

Additionally, I am the Education Director of the Big Data & Analytics Association (BDAA). We aim to inspire students to think analytically, empower them through hands-on training, and connect them to potential employers. As the Education Director, I am responsible for all educational training events. This semester, I am leading a second series of workshops to give our members an introduction to python, exploratory data analysis, and machine learning. I will be leading various other workshops throughout the semester such as an introduction to cloud computing, and coordinating other workshops to be led by our professional sponsors, professors at Ohio State, and other members of the data analytics community.

I am also a member of the Beta Xi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for music, and a member of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory (CSML).

Outside of this, I have the following commitments to myself in order to live a balanced and healthy life:

Working out in the morning on MWF
Meditating in the afternoon every weekday
Reading in the evening before bed on SuMTuWTh

Fall 2019

This semester, I am taking 16 credit hours at Ohio State, working part-time, performing research in the music cognition lab, contributing to two student organizations as an officer, and focusing on a few habits for my personal growth and well-being.

The classes I’m taking now are as follows:

Statistical Modeling for Discovery I (STAT 3301)
Introduction to Data Mining (CSE 5243)
Data Management in the Cloud (CSE 3244)
Systems Modeling and Optimization for Analytics (ISE 3230)
German I Online (GERMAN 1101.61)

As a member of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory (CSML), I have learned better experimental design and become familiar with current research in the field of music cognition and musicology. I am collaborating with Nick Shea, a PhD candidate in music theory, on a research project. We have analyzed how performers, specifically guitarists, physically play common chord progressions on their instruments to test a few hypotheses related to performers’ interactions with their instruments and the resulting structure of their music. Currently we are working on getting this research published. After this, I will assist other lab members with data and programming related tasks for their music research.

Additionally, I am a liaison for the Big Data & Analytics Association (BDAA). As a liaison, I have strengthened connections between Ohio State faculty and BDAA by communicating with them about our events, and relaying information they have for us to the rest of the executive board. I also work with our education director to develop our own workshop curriculum. This semester, in addition to our standard workshops, like intro to python, we are doing a series for freshman or anyone new to data analytics. This series will include four separate workshops with topics ranging from what data analytics actually is to very basic machine learning concepts.

I am also the secretary for the Beta Xi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for music. My goal for the semester is to continue facilitating more efficient meetings, so that we can spend more of our time together as brothers, and less time taking care of miscellaneous business. In order to achieve this, I am continuing to send out weekly agendas with estimated time frames for each business matter. This way everyone knows what needs to occur, and will be more focused on the specific matters at hand. The chapter executive board as a whole will also be enforcing start times and Robert’s Rules of order, among other techniques, to maintain orderly and efficient meetings.

Outside of this, I have the following commitments to myself in order to live a balanced and healthy life:

Working out in the morning on MWF
Meditating in the morning on MWF
Grocery store and meal prep on Monday
Reading in the evening before bed on SuMTuWTh

Summer 2019

This summer, I am working full-time, doing music research, and focusing on a few habits for my personal growth and well-being.

I work a minimum of forty hours a week for LARI Life Settlement as a Data Science Developer. LARI is a life settlement exchange providing investors with a platform for researching and securing life settlement assets. The exchange maintains life insurance financial data and medical data covering the insured. In the past I have worked independently on various projects using Podio API, Globiflow, ProcFu, PHP, Amazon Web Services, Python, and Natural Language Processing to export insurance cases, generate statistics on cases, extract relevant medical conditions from medical files, as well as various other projects. Much of this work is performed remotely, with trips for team meetings.

I am collaborating with Nick Shea, a PhD candidate in music theory, on a research project. We are analyzing how performers, specifically guitarists, physically play common chord progressions on their instruments to test a few hypotheses related to performers’ interactions with their instruments and the resulting structure of their music. In August, we will present our work at the 2019 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC) in New York City.

Outside of this, I have the following daily commitments to myself in order to live a balanced and healthy life:

Doing a small workout in the morning
Taking a cold shower to increase my willpower and alertness
Doing at least one Duolingo lesson (currently working on German)
Reading

Spring 2019

Currently, I’m a third year at The Ohio State University and am taking in 13 credit hours. Those classes are:

Artificial Intelligence I (CSE 3521)
Introduction to Statistical Inference for Data Analytics (STAT 3202)
Planets to Cosmos (ASTRON 1101)
Clarinet Studio & Private Lessons (Music 3403.43)

I work a minimum of ten hours a week for LARI Life Settlement as a Data Science Developer. LARI is a life settlement exchange providing investors with a platform for researching and securing life settlement assets. The exchange maintains life insurance financial data and medical data covering the insured. In the past I have worked independently on various projects using Podio API, Globiflow, ProcFu, PHP, Amazon Web Services, Python, and Natural Language Processing to export insurance cases, generate statistics on cases, extract relevant medical conditions from medical files, as well as various other projects.

Towards the end of last semester, I joined the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory (CSML). Through being a member of CSML, I have learned better experimental design and become familiar with current research in the field of music cognition and musicology. I am now collaborating with Nick Shea, a PhD candidate in music theory, on a research project. We are working on creating a database of fully realized popular music songs. After we accomplish that, we will use it to analyze how performers physically play common chord progressions on their instruments to test a few hypotheses related to performers’ interactions with their instruments and the resulting structure of popular music.

Additionally, I am a liaison for the Big Data & Analytics Association (BDAA). As a liaison, I have strengthened connections between Ohio State faculty and BDAA by communicating with them about events we are hosting, and relaying information they have for us to the rest of the executive board. I also work with our education director to develop our own workshop curriculum. Last semester hosted a Web Scraping with Python workshop and a Creating Web Applications with RShiny workshop. This semester we will host an Amazon Web Services workshop and a text mining and analytics workshop.

This semester I am performing a solo recital for the clarinet. This is something that I have been preparing for over a year, and I am excited to publicly share my progress as a musician and my interpretations of the compositions that I am performing. This concludes my official music degree. However, music, in its many various capacities, will be something that I am able to enjoy for the rest of my life.

I am also secretary for the Beta Xi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for music. My goal for the semester is to facilitate more efficient meetings, so that we can spend more of our time together as brothers, and less time taking care of miscellaneous business. In order to achieve this, I am sending out weekly agendas with estimated time frames for each business matter. This way everyone knows what needs to occur, and will be more focused on the specific matters at hand. The chapter executive board as a whole will also be enforcing start times and Robert’s Rules of order, among other techniques, to maintain orderly and efficient meetings.

Outside of these activities and commitments, I have the following commitments to myself in order to live a balanced and healthy life:

Meal prep at least one meal either on or for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
Not buying potato chips from the store
Reading on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday (usually before bed)
Working out once a week with one of my friends

Fall 2018

Currently, I’m in my third year at The Ohio State University and am enrolled in 18 credit hours. The classes I’m taking now are as follows:

Foundations II: Data Structures and Algorithms (CSE 2331)
Introduction to Database Systems (CSE 3241)
Linear Algebra (Math 2568)
The Science of Musical Pleasure (Music 4193)
The World Of Music (Music 3351)
Clarinet Studio & Private Lessons (Music 3401.43)
Symphonic Band (Music 2204.02)

I work around ten hours a week for LARI Life Settlement as a Data Science Developer. LARI is a life settlement exchange providing investors with a platform for researching and securing life settlement assets. The exchange maintains life insurance financial data and medical data covering the insured. In the past I have worked independently on various projects using Podio API, Globiflow, PHP, Amazon Web Services, Python, and Natural Language Processing to export insurance cases, generate statistics on cases, extract relevant medical conditions from medical files, as well as various other projects.

Additionally, I am a liaison for the Big Data & Analytics Association (BDAA). As a liaison, I have strengthened connections between Ohio State faculty and BDAA by communicating with them about events we are hosting, and relaying information they have for us to the rest of the executive board. I also work with our education director to develop our own workshop curriculum. So far this semester we have hosted a Web Scraping with Python workshop and a Creating Web Applications with RShiny workshop.

I am also brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Beta Xi.

Outside of school, I make a point to perform the following daily habits to continuously improve my quality of life. The focus is on enhancing my physical and mental well-being, as well as growing my knowledge and skill sets. These are specific and tied to times or events in the day to make them more actionable and automatic. They are based on principles set forth by Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit and advice given by Thomas Frank of College Info Geek. These include:

Small Morning Workout
- Each weekday morning targets one muscle group
- Rest on Saturday and Sunday
Practice Clarinet (Friday is Break-Day)
Work
Meditate
- This usually happens after I get home from school as a way to reset and focus through the evening. However, if I find myself particularly unfocused or uncentered, I will meditate more often.
Professional Development & Self Improvement Through Reading
- I read before bed until I get tired.
- I keep a book in my backpack in case I find myself with a few spare minutes.
- I listen to audiobooks when walking to class.

Spring 2018

Currently, I’m taking 18 credit hours at The Ohio State University. The classes I’m taking are:

Introduction to Probability for Data Analytics (STAT 3201)
Systems I: Introduction to Low-Level Programming and Computer Organization (CSE 2421)
Clarinet Studio & Private Lessons (Music 3401.43)
Music Theory IV (Music 3422)
Aural Skills IV (Music 3425)
Music History III (Music 2242)
Symphonic Band (Music 2204.02)

My personal goals this semester are few due to my demanding course load, however they are as follows:

Reading for at least 30 minutes every day
Learn to cook by making at least one new recipe per week

I am a liaison for the Big Data & Analytics Association and a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Beta Xi.

Fall 2017

Currently, I’m taking 18 credit hours at The Ohio State University. The classes I’m taking are:

Foundations I: Discrete Structures (CSE 2321)
Software II (Java) (CSE 2231)
Clarinet Studio & Private Lessons (Music 3404.43)
Music Theory III (Music 3421)
Aural Skills III (Music 3424)
Keyboard III (Music 2261.01)
Music History II (Music 2241)
University Chorus (Music 2203.03)

In addition, I am participating in the Second-Year Transformational Experience Program (STEP). Participation in this includes attending weekly cohort meetings with a small group of peers and our faculty mentor, attending three professional development co-curriculars, completing an online module in financial literacy and an individual session with a financial wellness coach, developing a personal statement, and finally, developing and deploying a STEP signature project.

My non-school goals and commitments to myself this semester are few due to my demanding course load, however they are:

Reading for at least 30 minutes every day
Working out for at least 45 minutes twice a week
Doing one Duolingo German exercise a day

I am an active member of the Big Data & Analytics Association and a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Beta Xi.

Summer 2017

Currently, I’m taking summer classes on campus and working part time with The Ohio State University Summer Conference Housing. Other than school and work, my current focuses are solidifying beneficial habits and working on my personal goals. Some of my daily activities are:

Reading at least 25 pages
Walking at least 10,000 steps
Working on completing the entire Khan Academy statistics module to refresh my knowledge of statistics
Working on training my mind to be more calm and focused through meditation
Giving at least one genuine compliment to someone else