by Emma Penrod
Sometimes, the most innovative uses for computers come not from programmers, but individuals specialized in other fields, according to Dan Ventura, a BYU computer science professor. And if that is the case, one BYU student is no exception.
Kristine Monteith, a graduate student finishing her Ph.D. in computer science, first thought she would go to medical school. Before long, she discovered her passion for music therapy, and completed her undergraduate work in that field at Utah State University. She even found work in the field for a time, but soon realized therapy might not be the ideal line of work for her.
[/media-credit]“Music therapy was emotionally taxing,” Kristine said. “My computer occasionally has a bad day, but I don’t feel bad for it, I feel annoyed at it.”
So she began the career-hunting process over again, this time looking for occupations that would allow her to support her family, should push come to shove. She settled on computer science, prayed about it, and felt it was the right decision. But she also felt she should attend BYU — a school that doesn’t award second bachelor’s degrees.
Kristine enrolled at BYU regardless, finished undergraduate courses in computer science and made it into the masters program. After completing her thesis — a grueling effort made all the more difficult by a year-long bought of mono — Kristine wrote and subsequently published her first paper in under a week, and then continued on to begin work on her Ph.D.
For her dissertation, Kristine went back to her undergraduate roots, writing an experimental program that copies music classified by emotion and emulates them, hopefully creating music that can in turn inspire a desired emotional response in the listener.
“It makes sense, where I ended up,” she said.
To complicate matters, Kristine just fulfilled her longtime dream of becoming a mother, but she said work on her dissertation has progressed nicely.
“This research has actually gone really smoothly,” Kristine said. “It’s been a little challenging, learning to balance baby and work, but I can program and write sometimes when [our baby] takes naps.”
When she graduates in April, Kristine will start her first job with a government research lab in California, the same Bay Area lab where her father works.
“I got a job where grown-up people work,” Kristine said. “It just didn’t occur to me that I would be getting one.”
But Kristine’s dream job — the dream she and her husband continue to strive toward — is to be a stay-at-home mother. However, with her husband, Adam Monteith, still finishing law school, that hasn’t proven feasible.
“Kristine wants more than anything to be a mother and raise her children,” Adam said. “We have long-term plans and a long-term vision of being able to do that. In the meanwhile, I haven’t graduated yet; she got that job offer, and we’re practical about that.”
Nonetheless, starting a family while completing two advanced degrees hasn’t been easy.
“There have been times when we’ve thought we could simplify our lives by dropping out of school,” Adam said, “but we feel it is important for both of us to be educated. Whatever the field, I like knowing that my children will have a mother who is educated. It will remind them that education and intelligence are not only valuable to make money.”
And in the meantime, he added, their children can learn another important lesson.
“Sometimes mommy works, and sometimes daddy works,” Adam said, “but either way it’s important to get an education.”
While working on two advanced degrees simultaneously has been stressful at times, Adam said it has also helped to strengthen their relationship.
“Some families in situations like ours, things get difficult and they begin arguing about whose education is more important,” he said. “I’m glad that that hasn’t happened to us. No matter how difficult things get, we’ve never been tempted to argue about whose desires are more important. We still want to make each other happy.”
Kristine’s adviser, Tony Martinez, said her project was especially difficult on its own, although he added Kristine was specially positioned to complete the project, and her research has proven successful thus far even as she has adjusted to her new role as a mother.
“[Starting a family] has made it more difficult for her, but she’s pushed forward with good steady effort,” Martinez said. “It’s not done yet, but it’s going well.”
Ventura, who taught the computational creativity class that inspired Kristine Monteith’s dissertation, said he believes computers may one day prove just as creative as humans. Although Kristine disagrees with him, Ventura said he believes she is uniquely positioned to push computers toward that potential.
“She’s very sharp,” Ventura said. “She’s just a kind of interesting mix because she knows computer science and music. She’s comfortable in both worlds.”
