About Me

Portrait of Melissa Fedak

I'm that person...

Who follows the rules in an uptight, annoying manner. Except when they're stupid.

Who trusts blindingly, naively, completely. Or not remotely.

Whose religion is "not to look stupid in the afterlife."

Who is obsessed with the feeling of coming back to a familiar place as a new person.

Who prefers planned spontaneity.

I'm a web developer and a writer.

Zero in common, you say? No! Both are magic. Abstract symbols and words on a page transform to vivid, colorful life, as long as you know the secret patterns.

I endeavor to be that skilled magician. To evoke emotion, beauty, and new worlds from two dimensions. To reflect the mystery of evolution and our drive to grow and change for the better. To capture that elusive feeling of living an alternate life.

And to make your journey effortless and intriguing. (Unless you're on a mobile device... shut up, I'm getting there.)

Resume

What Makes Melissa Tick
Education:
University of Oregon
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
(Minor in Architecture)
Skills:
Professional Web Development and Programming: NodeJS Vue and React; ASP.NET MVC using C#; ASP Classic using JScript; Delphi using Pascal, and all the Javascript, HTML, XML, and CSS you can shake a stick at
Development-related Proficiencies: Visual Studio, Git, Subversion, Kibana, Atlassian JIRA, BitBucket / Stash, TeamCity, SourceTree; experience working in the Agile methodology
Professional Design: Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks
Instruction: Teaching college-level workshop on web development skills; Creating activities for English as a second language to every age group from preschool to the elderly in Japan; Training web developers in Delhi
Other Software Proficiencies: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, WordPress
Passions and Causes:
Meditating woman
Passions:
  • Mindfulness Meditation, MBSR, and Spirituality
  • Creative Writing
  • Exploring Healing Modalities
    1. TRE (Trauma Release Exercises)
    2. Circling
    3. Focusing
    4. Compassionate Inquiry
    5. SE (Somatic Experiencing)
    6. Psychedelics
    7. IFS (Internal Family Systems)
    8. MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion)
    9. Acupuncture
    10. EMDR
    11. Reiki
    12. Breathwork
  • International Travel
Causes:
  • Mass Incarceration
  • Homelessness
  • Poverty
  • Child Welfare
Courses and Certifications:
Brown University MBSR Badge
MBSR Foundations Completed the ten-week course for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Foundations and Facilitator Training at Brown University
Path of Freedom book
Path of Freedom Completed the six-week course on emotional intelligence intended to be taught to incarcerated individuals through the Prison Mindfulness Institute
Experience:
2006 - 2026 Communify (previously S&P Global, previously IHS Markit)
Senior Web Developer / Team Lead
Duties:
  • Built and maintained financial web applications using .NET MVC, C#, NodeJS APIs, React and Vue, Classic ASP, and jQuery
  • Mentored junior developers, improving onboarding and code quality
  • Trained web developers in the office near Delhi, India for nearly a year
  • Pioneered the front-end workings of the new production support engineering department
  • Led technical discussions with enterprise clients and clarified requirements
  • Managed a small team
  • Diagnosed and resolved production issues, contributing to a reduction in recurring incidents
  • Authored internal documentation, training guides, and presentations

2003 - 2005 JET Program
Assistant English Teacher
Duties: Created lesson plans and activities, both as a team and on my own, for teaching English to Elementary school students, Jr. High school students, and adults in Japan; wrote a monthly newsletter for the students and a column in the town weekly

Early Career
2015 Mickie's Sweet Spot
Duties: Developed website using Wordpress plugin
2002 - 2003 University of Colorado Foundation
Duties: Performed data entry, interpretation, and clean-up, using SQL queries

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