ajstent · besshagan · Jul 4, 2025 · Jul 4, 2025 · Jul 4, 2025 · Jul 4, 2025
diff --git a/.nojekyll b/.nojekyll
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+
diff --git a/Bess Hagan Resume.pdf b/Bess Hagan Resume.pdf
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -1,72 +1,28 @@
-This is a template DREU project site. You can start with this and modify it in any way you like, so long as it is still hosted in a git repository.
+# Bess Hagan 🎓💻
 
-## Quick Start
+This is my personal portfolio site built with HTML and CSS to showcase my academic background, technical skills, and research experience in computer science, data science, and AI.
 
-### Step 1) Get a GitHub account
+---
 
-Go to github.com and sign up for a free account. Let's assume you sign up for an account with username "myname".
+## 🧠 About
 
-### Step 2) Copy this site to your GitHub account
+The site highlights:
+- Academic and research experience (e.g., SURF & DREU)
+- Skills in data science, software development, and GIS
+- Projects in machine learning, procedural content generation, and more
+- A downloadable resume
 
-Sign into your github account.
+---
 
-From this repo, click the "Fork" button at the top right hand of the window.
-A copy of this repository will be made in your own github account.
+## 🛠 Tech Stack
 
-### Step 3) Rename the repository
+- HTML5
+- CSS3 (no frameworks, just clean vanilla CSS)
+- Hosted via [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/)
+---
 
-In "myname/dreuprojecttemplate", click on "Settings" near the top right hand of the window. Change the repository name from "dreuprojecttemplate" to to "myname.github.io". ("myname" must match your GitHub user name exactly.)
+## 📬 Contact
 
-Scroll down til you see "GitHub pages" and choose "Master" instead of "None".
-
-If you already have a GitHub site, then you can make this a project site rather than your personal site.
-
-### Step 4) Customize and view your site
-
-Set up your site name, description, avatar and many other options by editing the _config.yml file. 
-
-To edit, click on the file link and then click on the little pencil icon in the top right. When you are done, scroll down and click "Commit".
-
-To add your own image, do the following:
-* upload your image into the "images" directory, by going to the "images" directory and clicking the "Upload File" button. Let's say you upload "yourimage.png". Don't forget to Commit!
-* modify the avatar line in _config.yml to say "https://myname.github.io/images/yourimage.png". Don't forget to Commit!
-
-Your site will typically be viewable within 5 minutes at <https://myname.github.io>.
-
-Making a change to _config.yml (or any file in your repository) will force GitHub Pages to rebuild your site with jekyll. Your rebuilt site will be viewable within 5 minutes at <https://myname.github.io>.
-
-> There are 3 different ways that you can make changes to your site:
-
-> 1. Edit files within your repository in the browser at GitHub.com.
-> 2. Use a third party GitHub content editor, like [Prose by Development Seed](http://prose.io). It's optimized for use with Jekyll making markdown editing, writing drafts, and uploading images really easy.
-> 3. Clone down your repository and make updates locally, then push them to your GitHub repository. For more on how to "clone down", see [Github pointers](https://help.github.com/en/github/getting-started-with-github).
-
-### Step 5) Publish your first blog post
-
-Edit `/_posts/2020-06-01-week1.md` to publish your first blog post. This [Markdown Cheatsheet](http://www.jekyllnow.com/Markdown-Style-Guide/) might come in handy.
-
-> You can add additional posts in the browser on GitHub.com too! Just hit the + icon in `/_posts/` to create new content. Just make sure to include the [front-matter](http://jekyllrb.com/docs/frontmatter/) block at the top of each new blog post and make sure the post's filename is in this format: year-month-day-title.md.
-
-## Modify the Style
-
-You can modify the look and feel of your site by modifying style.scss.
-
-## Local Development
-
-If you want to edit your website on your own computer rather than at GitHub.com, follow these instructions.
-
-1. Install Jekyll and plug-ins in one fell swoop. `gem install github-pages` This mirrors the plug-ins used by GitHub Pages on your local machine including Jekyll, Sass, etc.
-2. Clone down your fork: `git clone https://github.com/myname/myname.github.io.git`.
-3. Serve the site locally on your computer: `jekyll serve`.
-4. View your website at http://127.0.0.1:4000/.
-5. Commit any changes and push everything to the master branch of your GitHub user repository: `git commit -m "message here"`; then `git push -u origin master`. GitHub Pages will then rebuild and serve your website publicly.
-
-## Additional Tips and Help
-
-- [GitHub pointers](https://help.github.com/en/github/getting-started-with-github)
-- [GitHub pages](https://help.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages/creating-a-github-pages-site#creating-your-site)
-- [Markdown](https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax#links)
-- [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com)
-- [Jekyll tips](https://devhints.io/jekyll)
-
-This site is based on [Jekyll Now](https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now).
+- Email: [email protected]  
+- GitHub: [github.com/besshagan](https://github.com/besshagan)  
+- LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/bess-hagan](https://linkedin.com/in/bess-hagan)
diff --git a/_posts/2020-06-01-week1.md b/_posts/2020-06-01-week1.md
diff --git a/404.md → dreu-2024/404.md b/404.md → dreu-2024/404.md
diff --git a/LICENSE → dreu-2024/LICENSE b/LICENSE → dreu-2024/LICENSE
diff --git a/dreu-2024/README.md b/dreu-2024/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+This is a template DREU project site. You can start with this and modify it in any way you like, so long as it is still hosted in a git repository.
+
+## Quick Start
+
+### Step 1) Get a GitHub account
+
+Go to github.com and sign up for a free account. Let's assume you sign up for an account with username "myname".
+
+### Step 2) Copy this site to your GitHub account
+
+Sign into your github account.
+
+From this repo, click the "Fork" button at the top right hand of the window.
+A copy of this repository will be made in your own github account.
+
+### Step 3) Rename the repository
+
+In "myname/dreuprojecttemplate", click on "Settings" near the top right hand of the window. Change the repository name from "dreuprojecttemplate" to to "myname.github.io". ("myname" must match your GitHub user name exactly.)
+
+Scroll down til you see "GitHub pages" and choose "Master" instead of "None".
+
+If you already have a GitHub site, then you can make this a project site rather than your personal site.
+
+### Step 4) Customize and view your site
+
+Set up your site name, description, avatar and many other options by editing the _config.yml file. 
+
+To edit, click on the file link and then click on the little pencil icon in the top right. When you are done, scroll down and click "Commit".
+
+To add your own image, do the following:
+* upload your image into the "images" directory, by going to the "images" directory and clicking the "Upload File" button. Let's say you upload "yourimage.png". Don't forget to Commit!
+* modify the avatar line in _config.yml to say "https://myname.github.io/images/yourimage.png". Don't forget to Commit!
+
+Your site will typically be viewable within 5 minutes at <https://myname.github.io>.
+
+Making a change to _config.yml (or any file in your repository) will force GitHub Pages to rebuild your site with jekyll. Your rebuilt site will be viewable within 5 minutes at <https://myname.github.io>.
+
+> There are 3 different ways that you can make changes to your site:
+
+> 1. Edit files within your repository in the browser at GitHub.com.
+> 2. Use a third party GitHub content editor, like [Prose by Development Seed](http://prose.io). It's optimized for use with Jekyll making markdown editing, writing drafts, and uploading images really easy.
+> 3. Clone down your repository and make updates locally, then push them to your GitHub repository. For more on how to "clone down", see [Github pointers](https://help.github.com/en/github/getting-started-with-github).
+
+### Step 5) Publish your first blog post
+
+Edit `/_posts/2020-06-01-week1.md` to publish your first blog post. This [Markdown Cheatsheet](http://www.jekyllnow.com/Markdown-Style-Guide/) might come in handy.
+
+> You can add additional posts in the browser on GitHub.com too! Just hit the + icon in `/_posts/` to create new content. Just make sure to include the [front-matter](http://jekyllrb.com/docs/frontmatter/) block at the top of each new blog post and make sure the post's filename is in this format: year-month-day-title.md.
+
+## Modify the Style
+
+You can modify the look and feel of your site by modifying style.scss.
+
+## Local Development
+
+If you want to edit your website on your own computer rather than at GitHub.com, follow these instructions.
+
+1. Install Jekyll and plug-ins in one fell swoop. `gem install github-pages` This mirrors the plug-ins used by GitHub Pages on your local machine including Jekyll, Sass, etc.
+2. Clone down your fork: `git clone https://github.com/myname/myname.github.io.git`.
+3. Serve the site locally on your computer: `jekyll serve`.
+4. View your website at http://127.0.0.1:4000/.
+5. Commit any changes and push everything to the master branch of your GitHub user repository: `git commit -m "message here"`; then `git push -u origin master`. GitHub Pages will then rebuild and serve your website publicly.
+
+## Additional Tips and Help
+
+- [GitHub pointers](https://help.github.com/en/github/getting-started-with-github)
+- [GitHub pages](https://help.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages/creating-a-github-pages-site#creating-your-site)
+- [Markdown](https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax#links)
+- [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com)
+- [Jekyll tips](https://devhints.io/jekyll)
+
+This site is based on [Jekyll Now](https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now).
diff --git a/_config.yml → dreu-2024/_config.yml b/_config.yml → dreu-2024/_config.yml
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@
 #
 
 # Name of your site (displayed in the header)
-name: Your Name
+name: Bess Hagan
 
 # Short bio or description (displayed in the header)
-description: Summer 2020 DREU Project
+description: Summer 2024 DREU Project
 
 # URL of your avatar or profile pic (you could use your GitHub profile pic)
-avatar: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/barryclark/jekyll-now/master/images/jekyll-logo.png
+avatar: https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/142757968?v=4
 
 #
 # Flags below are optional
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@ avatar: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/barryclark/jekyll-now/master/images/je
 # Includes an icon in the footer for each username you enter
 footer-links:
   dribbble:
-  email: yourmail@mail.com
+  email: haganb@southwestern.com
   facebook:
   flickr:
   rss: # just type anything here for a working RSS icon
 
 # Your website URL (e.g. http://ajstent.github.io)
 # Used for Sitemap.xml and your RSS feed
-url:
+url: https://github.com/besshagan
 
 # If you're hosting your site at a Project repository on GitHub pages
 # (http://yourusername.github.io/repository-name)

diff --git a/_includes/meta.html → dreu-2024/_includes/meta.html b/_includes/meta.html → dreu-2024/_includes/meta.html
diff --git a/_includes/svg-icons.html → dreu-2024/_includes/svg-icons.html b/_includes/svg-icons.html → dreu-2024/_includes/svg-icons.html
diff --git a/_layouts/default.html → dreu-2024/_layouts/default.html b/_layouts/default.html → dreu-2024/_layouts/default.html
diff --git a/_layouts/page.html → dreu-2024/_layouts/page.html b/_layouts/page.html → dreu-2024/_layouts/page.html
diff --git a/_layouts/post.html → dreu-2024/_layouts/post.html b/_layouts/post.html → dreu-2024/_layouts/post.html
diff --git a/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-12-earlyMay.md b/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-12-earlyMay.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Early May
+---
+
+Before beginning the program, [Luc Paquette](https://education.illinois.edu/profile/luc-paquette) introduced me to [Colleen Lewis](https://cs.illinois.edu/about/people/faculty/colleenl) over email because she was coordinating with the university to provide housing for me over the summer at Presby Hall.
+
+![Presby Hall](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/besshagan/besshagan.github.io/1fa05571db7288e1bec0f1662aedd5f5b6a1dd41/images/entrance.jpg)
+
+I'll be here at Presby by myself for the first two weeks, but I'll be sharing this 4-bedroom suite with other students soon. Everyone I've met so far has been incredibly friendly and welcoming. In fact, Luc and his wife picked me up from the airport to take me to Presby, and the UIUC students who staff the front desk here have helped get me set up, and they've given me lots of information about the area I'm living in. Presby is within walking distance from Green Street, where there are restaurants and businesses, including a small Target that sells groceries and other (dorm living) necessities. My first day of the DREU program begins tomorrow. I'm meeting with Luc at his office at 9:30 am, and I'm excited to get started!
diff --git a/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-12-week1.md b/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-12-week1.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Week 1
+---
+
+## May 13 - May 17
+
+I met Juan Pinto, a PhD student at UIUC, during my initial meeting with Luc. We discussed the overall project, what the next steps in the process should be, and we made plans to meet again Wednesday afternoon after I had some time to review the mock data I helped to generate on May 9th. Luc also invited me to join the INVITE Institute's Slack Channel where I could ask questions and attend meetings with other people on this project.
+
+Over the next few days, I was also given read-only access to the database via HeidiSQL and Admin/Developer privileges on the Minecraft server where the learning environment was built. I attended INVITE's strand1 meeting on Slack, and I met with Jeff Ginger virtually to talk about the data and the learning environment. He walked me through installing MultiMC to navigate the WHIMC/Minecraft server that data is being collected from. On Wednesday, I met with Luc to go over my initial notes on the data, and we agreed on a regular day/time to meet once a week. Luc also wanted me to meet with Juan weekly to discuss the project and receive help.
+
+I spent most of Thursday and Friday acquainting myself with the learning environment. I have never played a videogame on a PC before, so learning how to navigate basic controls while I taught myself how to use the development tools I was given was challenging, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. The plan is to generate mock data for myself that I can look at to see if I can gain further incite into how to recognize points of challenge and persistence for student participants.
+
+Lastly, I reached out to DREU about the DREU Student Kick-Off Webinar because the dates on the Summer Activities Calendar did not align with this year's calendar, and the link for this event was broken. I haven't heard back yet, but I hope to receive more information from DREU about the events I am meant to attend soon.
diff --git a/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-19-week2.md b/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-19-week2.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Week 2
+---
+
+## May 20 - May 24
+
+Colleen Lewis reached out to me over the weekend to invite me to join a computer science research and reading group at UIUC. These groups meet on Tuesdays and Fridays, and I attended meetings for both groups this week in addition to my second strand1 meeting, the monthly meeting for the entire INVITE Institute, and a meeting with the WHIMC Barrelbot team. Midweek, I received an email invitation to attend the CS 2024 Summer Research Lunch & Learns. This speaker series will be held on Tuesdays at noon beginning next week.
+
+On Monday, I had my weekly check-in with Luc. He asked me to choose one or two of the questions he had about the database to see if I could extract that data. So, I started the week learning how to export and query from the database using HeidiSQL to find out how many times a player attempted a puzzle before reaching a solution. I tried a few different mySQL queries which may or may not be correct, but I won't be able to truly test these queries until some of the issues I encountered with data collection are corrected.
+
+So, I reached out to Luc and Juan to ask how I should proceed. Luc said I should try working outside of the database by either using Excel to prototype the data or by using Python to analyze the data. I decided to attempt the latter after my first weekly meeting with Juan. He shared some information with me about how to use Python and Pandas to extract and analyze the data. I spent Thursday and Friday teaching myself how to use these tools, and I began writing my own code to extract data from the mySQL database remotely.
diff --git a/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-26-week3.md b/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-05-26-week3.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Week 3
+---
+## May 27 - May 31
+
+I'm still learning how to utilize the Pandas library in Python to do data analysis, but I was able to write a script that connects to the WHIMC database remotely to import tables as data frame objects and export them to Excel files in a local directory on my computer. I also wrote a script that calculates the Levenshtein distance (edit distance) between changes made to the directions stored in the Barrel Bot by the user every time they interact with it in the environment. It doesn't work perfectly yet, because it is still unclear which puzzle they are working on and when they complete that puzzle, but I'm proud of myself for getting as far as I have.
+
+On Tuesday, I attended my second CS Research Group meeting where we discussed how to improve an existing grant proposal for a research study, and then I went to my first Lunch and Learn where I was introduced to the staff hosting these sessions and other CS students who are here for the summer doing research in the CS department.
+
+On Wednesday, I attended the WHIMC Barrel Bot check-in meeting, my first strand3 meeting, and I had my weekly check-in meeting with Juan. Juan and I discussed the state of the data being collected and the code I've been working on. We discussed exploratory data analysis (EDA), how to make improvements to my code, and where to store calculated results. 
+
+I spent the remainder of my week working on my script and learning more about how I can use Pandas data structures to merge tables for EDA. Luc and I didn't have our normal check-in meeting until Friday because he was traveling, but I had lots to share with him by the time he got back.
diff --git a/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-06-02-week4.md b/dreu-2024/_posts/2024-06-02-week4.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Week 4
+---
+## June 3 - June 7
+
+My fourth week has been a little disappointing because I wasn't able to accomplish as much as I hoped to. I was able to make some improvements to my existing scripts after I met with Luc on Monday, and he introduced me to pivot tables in Excel because I was curious about this method for data analysis. I also shared my scripts to calculate edit distance for users using loops with Juan, and he walked me through how to replace my loops with the apply method and lambda functions to make my script more efficient.
+
+After learning more about the apply, concat, and merge methods in Pandas earlier in the week, I had some ideas about how to move forward, but I struggled with the application of these methods on the data as it exists in the database because the plans I had were based on the data we collected on May 9th, and there have been several changes made to the database since then.
+
+Despite this setback, I attempted to merge tables in a variety of ways to see if looking at the existing data in a new way might give me some new incites, but most of the new tables I created were full of duplicates and null values. The only useful tables I produced were the ones I created by adapting some code that Juan sent to me to concatenate tables, instead of joining them. Regardless, I was hopeful that once I had some new data, the path forward would be less murky, and all I needed to get that new data was the go-ahead from Sam.
+
+Once Sam pushed all the latest updates, I logged into the server and worked through the first three puzzles Jeff had set up for me, toggling back and forth between the database and the learning environment, but something was wrong. Data was not logging in the tables I expected it to see it, but I wasn't certain this was an error. So, I went through every table in the database to find out what was being logged, and I exported that data to attempt to extract what I could from it. Just as I thought I had found something new and relevant, Jeff messaged me on Slack to tell me that there had been a system failure earlier in the week so they had to roll back all the updates they made on Monday, so any new data collected this week should be thrown out.
+
+At this point, I reached out to Luc and Juan to update them on the situation and ask for guidance on how to move forward. Luc had a couple of ideas for what I could do with the data in its current state, and he also suggested that I start working on the DREU Progress Report (3rd milestone) which is due at the end of the 5th week.