if something is this color, click it! last updated on 5/31/25 at 8:14pm
you can call me spibble or dragn or Miles; don't really care which! i am currently a student at UC San Diego studying cognitive science and math-cs. i i actually didn't like programming and stuff all that much until towards the end of my second year, so now i'm trying to make up for lost time :P
if you would like to get in contact with me, i use Discord (@.spibble) and no other social media! you can also send me an email.
i'm interested in a lot of different things programming-wise but currently my biggest interests are embedded systems and robotics! i took an embedded class in the winter quarter of my second year and i really really liked it, and i just think there are so many cool things you can do with a microcontroller that i actually want to go out and do them! i owe it to that class (CSE 190 with Aaron Shalev/Schulman) for giving me something to actually be really interested in. then, the following quarter, i participated in a competition where my team built a robotic arm, and i did all the firmware programming. we didn't win but it was really fun and i'm happy i decided to do it because that was my first time participating in any sort of competition. ultimately i am still figuring things out, but these last two quarters (WI25, SP25) have been such a big period of growth for me :) (and probably more than the previous four combined)
i also occasionally do some Python scripting from time to time, and have been dabbling in web development (mostly HTML and CSS and plain JS for now). i would like to learn TS at some point though! in general, i think knowing many different types of programming languages/use cases/etc. is good for being a more versatile developer, even if there are some times i clearly enjoy doing much more than others :P
outside of school, i'd say my biggest hobby is probably arcading and playing rhythm games! i actually haven't gone to the arcade much lately, but i do love a good grind session, and by grind i just mean go around and play all the games because i'm not really that good at any of them. my favorite (by far) is Taiko no Tatsujin; i have a drum controller and everything, which is a little embarassing to admit because i'm not actually that good at the game. i'm around 6-7 dan on keyboard, and 1-2 dan on drum (lol). my next favorites after that are probably pop'n and sdvx, which are the ones i really wanna play more of off the top of my head. not to say the other games aren't fun too, i just don't wanna sit here all day listing them
another big hobby of mine is music! i played quite a few instruments growing up and, although i am not actively participating in anything right now, i was in band all of high school and participated in my school's wind ensemble for 4 quarters, as well as a couple of other musical extracurriculars. currently i am trying to relearn how to play piano after a long time of never touching one, and i also want to learn how to produce electronic music too! i am a huge fan of rhythm game music (of course)—some of my favorite artists currently are linear ring, Cansol, AAAA, Umeboshi Chazuke, and GrivR (the only song i know of theirs is Hopscotch, but it's so good that i am willing to) consider them a favorite. another favorite of mine outside of the rhythm game bubble is azali. i wanna learn how to make music like all of these people someday!
i am also a furry, which i would consider to be a hobby. i have a lot of characters, but a few main ones (i'm on and off between calling them sonas); if you want to see them, you can find them on toyhou.se. i really want to learn how to draw some day so that i can draw them myself instead of always having to rely on my artist friends/ commissions to see them doing silly things!
i do also need a few more hobbies, so hopefully this upcoming summer i'll have some free time to explore new things!
note: these lists are not exhaustive; i have just put here what i can remember but i plan to add more!
i'm gonna redact the name just because i can (it still appears other places, so you can find it if you want). i interned here from june 2024 to august 2024; i did some basic frontend/backend dev stuff and bug fixing using react and .NET. i also had the opportunity to do some cool things, such as test automation using Playwright and an independent AI project, although those were unfortunately cut short due to the internship timeline and also poor management (not on the fault of my bosses, they were cool; just unlucky circumstances). i was not interested in interning there for another summer, but i think it was still a good opportunity and i'm glad i pushed myself to do it!
this was a one-quarter stint lasting from march 2025 to june 2025 (which means, at the time i'm currently writing this, it's my current job). i'm an IA for COGS 108 (Python data science)! this involved teaching students Python programming, data science libraries such as pandas, numpy, and scikit-learn, data collection (web scraping), cleaning, and analysis, and applications of machine learning algorithms. i also got to work with python scripting for things like Canvas LMS and Github, which was super fun! it was fun to see things from the other end for this class in particular (since it's so large) and apply my teaching skills to yet another position. however i did not get paid so 0/10 (joking, but only kinda)
i tutored for CSE 29 (software tools and systems programming) from september 2024 to december 2025 and will be tutoring for it again in the summer june to july 2025! this is definitely my favorite teaching position i've had so far, as C is such a fun programming language and i love teaching the basics to people. it's also a really versatile class that also teaches students CLI tools and things like Github which they will definitely use, even if they don't end up using C or any of the baby OS concepts that are taught in that class. and unlike IA-ing i did get paid so it gets a 10/10 from me!
this was my longest stint of employment by far, as i was a math tutor from october 2023 to june 2024! i worked for the Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services which is basically just a math, science, and writing tutoring center on campus. it was really fun because it was as much a teaching position as it was a social work position, as an important part of the job was fostering a safe space and community building for students and offering them advice for school, picking classes, etc. a lot of these students were first-gen (as am i) and it was a great opportunity to really lean into that identity and impact people in ways that extend far beyond their math class homework. although i prefer tutoring for the CSE department more (mostly just because they pay more lol) this was a really unique opportunity and i am glad i did it!
on my actual website i'm planning to have a page for blog posts and a now page, but for now i will have a list of my raw unfiltered thoughts, subject to change whenever i remember to change it.