Meet our 2015-2016 Sophomore Class
Name: Alex Meed
What’s your favorite part of being on the team?
My experience on the team wouldn’t be complete without my amazing teammates. They’re always fun to talk to and interact with, and I know I can always head over to the team room when I’m exhausted from my day and want to chill. But they’re also an incredibly hard-working bunch who always help me make sure I stay on my game, in speech and in life. I’ve only known the vast majority of my teammates for less than a year and a half, and they’re already among my closest friends.
Who inspires you and why?
I could say “my speech teammates”, but I’ve talked enough about them already. Instead, I’ll talk about my fellow Computer Science majors at UT—not one in particular, but as a whole. I’m consistently surrounded by a huge amount of talented, hard-working people who know a lot about computing, and I can only dream to someday possess the knowledge, experience, and intelligence that they have. Also, shout-out to my competitive programming teammates, who have always inspired me to push the limits of my computer programming skills.
What’s the nicest thing a teammate has ever done for you?
I commute to campus from a suburb north of Austin, so it’s often hard to get transportation to team functions and activities. So several of my teammates have filled that gap, driving me to and from campus when I couldn’t obtain a ride otherwise. (I don’t have a license yet… don’t judge me… please?) Shout-out to Cimmi, Mary Claire, and our team mom Shannon, as well as anyone who I might be forgetting.
If you could be born in a different time when would it be?
MAJOR NERD ALERT: I’d love to be born exactly 20 years before the first time a quantum computer calculates the prime factorization of a 1024-bit number. That sounds pretty random—but once that happens, it’ll instantly nullify a lot of the methods people use to protect computerized information, including the “https” protocol used by email providers, banks, social networks, and more. Quantum computing research has been steadily progressing, and I’d love for it to reach a critical mass when I’m old enough to understand it, think about it, and maybe even work on solving the problems it would create. If this makes no sense, look up post-quantum cryptography on Wikipedia. Or get in touch with me if you know me. I could talk about this stuff for ages.
What are you most afraid of?
I’m afraid of dogs. Sorry, dog people.