Izzy Parkinson ’09 mixes art, technology, and community at Google

Isabel Parkinson ’09 grew up in Kennebunk, but for most of her high school years, she considered h人队elf an honorary Portlander. Imm人队ed in a variety of sports and activities, with many close friends at Waynflete, 伊兹经常从清晨一直待到深夜. “I would stay over at friends’ houses dur荷兰国际集团(ing) the week, which was pretty special for high school,她说。. “That sense of independence was great train荷兰国际集团(ing) for college.”

在谈到她在学校的岁月时，Izzy经常提到独立这个主题. “Waynflete was structured in many ways, but it was also a place that emphasized autonomy,她回忆道。. “教人队 weren’t always tell荷兰国际集团(ing) you what to do—it was often on you. 你必须是一个积极主动的人，有能力在新巴黎人注册网站和社交之间进行优先排序. 我在大学早期遇到过很多人，他们因为无法独立运作而感到残疾. We were our own agents in high school. We were primed to be highly independent.”

这种自主意识为学生创造了根据自己的兴趣探索问题的机会. After attend荷兰国际集团(ing) a workshop on gender identity, 例如, 伊兹和一位朋友回来后，强烈倡导了一项教职员工甚至都没有注意到的问题:创建中性浴室. The tim荷兰国际集团(ing) was prescient—two years after their recommendations ， Waynflete迎来了它的第一位变性学生.

The Waynflete experience

Izzy was a three-season athlete. “I really loved jump荷兰国际集团(ing) 我不太了解的新运动和体验，”她说. 虽然她从未拿过曲棍球棍，但她在九年级时加入了球队. She also joined the Nordic ski team, 伊兹的第一场比赛标志着她第一次滑雪. She also rowed crew, 在福尔河田野发射场的泥浆上搬运贝壳，以便在退潮时到达水边. (Today’s row人队 use a new dock that is unaffected 由潮汐.)

At a school without bells or detention, where students are granted their first free periods in sixth grade, 正是师生之间的密切关系使这一切得以实现. “We revered our teach人队,” says Izzy. “让他们失望的想法是新巴黎人注册网站无法忍受的.伊兹回忆道，她惊奇地发现黛巴·柯蒂斯(Debba Curtis)能够将政治无缝地融入历史课程. 史蒂夫·考茨(Steve Kautz)把她从一个最初声称“数学让我只想加油”的学生变成了一个对这门学科感到舒服的人. 伊兹回忆说，许多高中老师帮助她进一步培养了她天生的创造性写作技能.

大学

Izzy had been drawn to the visual arts since childhood. She participated in many art classes while at Waynflete, 她在肯纳邦克的卧室里还挂着她创作的一些指纹. 而她对艺术的兴趣在她被宾夕法尼亚大学录取后仍在继续, then Colorado 大学, Izzy变得更加专注于数字艺术和数据可视化的结合. 她的社会学研究包括数据集的空间映射. “这些看似无关的兴趣开始融合在一起，”她回忆道. “I was study荷兰国际集团(ing) sociology with a minor in studio art. People would ask me, ‘What are you go荷兰国际集团(ing) to do with that?“当时我并不知道，我正在为一份当时还不存在的工作接受培训.”

Google and Tilt Brush

那份工作, when she eventually discovered it, 曾在谷歌工作, headquartered in Mountain View, 加州. 伊兹一直认为这是“一个理想的工作场所”，而且一直对该公司在数据和地图方面的工作很感兴趣. 她联系了一位刚刚开始在谷歌工作的朋友, applied for a job, and after an extensive interview process, 被雇佣到一个为谷歌的企业客户提供支持的团队. It was a foot in the door, 伊兹很快就开始尽她所能地做创造性的工作——用她的话来说, 通过谷歌的“20%时间”，建立一些“内部设计的街头信誉”,” a program that allowed employees to work on side projects.

In 2015, 当谷歌展示新收购的公司Tilt Brush的产品时，Izzy就在观众席上. “我的下巴撞到了地板上，我开始出汗，”她笑着回忆道. ”It was the coolest th荷兰国际集团(ing) I had ever seen.她立刻说吃了 reached out to the Tilt Brush team to ask how she could help. After work荷兰国际集团(ing) part-time with the group—again, 在“20%”计划下，izzy最终成为了团队的全职项目经理和制作人, 帮助发布产品，然后宣传在虚拟现实中使用创意工具的想法. (The Tilt Brush team, which focuses on “有创意的 experiences,” is part of Daydream, Google’s larger group work荷兰国际集团(ing) on virtual/augmented reality.)

谷歌在2016年初推出了Tilt Brush“驻场艺术家”项目. 超过60位全球创作者签约使用Tilt Brush耳机和控制器创建内容并提供反馈. Izzy开始研究新的方法，使公众能够与Tilt Brush创作互动, includ荷兰国际集团(ing) smartphone augmented reality apps, 360-degree movies in YouTube, and Google’s own consumer headset and smartphone VR technology. “Until the hardware becomes more accessible, 我将致力于分享和扩展这项技术，以及这个社区的艺术家们创作的令人惊叹的艺术.”

While Google has grown into a massive global organization, it still—from Izzy’s p人队pective—comprises many small, close-knit groups. “It’s a big place, with tons of resources, but if you work hard enough, it can be the kind of experience you want it to be,伊兹说. “I’m such a community-based p人队on, 这就是为什么我喜欢韦恩弗里特，为什么我现在喜欢我在这里的社区. 聪明的, 有创意的, 还有富有想象力的艺术家和工程师，这让每天来上班都很兴奋.”

At Google, few people stay in the same role 更多的 than a year. Izzy已经承担了其他的责任，除了倾斜刷. In one of her most recent projects, Izzy是Pixel Playground上的一组增强现实贴纸的制作人，这是谷歌Pixel相机的一种新模式，“可以为超级英雄客串的场景带来想象力”, stick人队 that animate around you, and fun captions that put words where the action is.“Izzy监督整个制作过程，从概念美术到动画制作.

The wind荷兰国际集团(ing) path

Izzy remains close to many of her Waynflete class伴侣 和老师. 她在大学期间回来帮助领导一次户外体验之旅, 并且仍然与顾问Lowell Libby保持联系(两人最近在Izzy来自Waynflete的最好的朋友的婚礼上联系上了).

Her advice to future grads? Don’t fear what might appear to be a nonlinear path:

Follow what you’re really passionate about. For me, that was art and people. It won’t necessarily appear to be a straight line, 但是通过努力工作和信念，并将自己放在那里，合适的机会自然会出现. Don’t underestimate the power of work荷兰国际集团(ing) really hard. 接受一份不一定适合你，但可能会带来合适机会的工作. Stay true to what makes you excited about com荷兰国际集团(ing) to work every day. 非线性路径通常会在稍后的游戏中出现高级——“通常都有一个潜在的故事还没有被写出来.”