About Cooper

Born in 1992, in Queensland, Australia, Cooper - as they are currently known in the webisphere - grew up with a natural curiosity about the world. There were never enough hours in the day for them to explore and learn new things, something that aggravated Cooper to no end as a child. As they got older, that curiosity manifested in several different ways, and they found themselves somewhat at a loss of what to do beyond school. They had so many ideas. Too many. To only choose one thing to focus on for the rest of their life seemed…inconceivable. Impossible.
 
As a result, it took several years after finishing school for Cooper to decide on what to do. In the end, the choice was taken out of their hands. Due to not finding full-time employment, a government unemployment agency stepped in and required them to study a course from a set list for free. The one that Cooper chose was the Certificate III in Information Technology.
 
Cooper’s reasoning, at the time, was that at least it would be somewhat interesting. Only a few months prior their netbook had died from a failed CPU, and their curiosity led them to wonder just why it had done so. Perhaps the course could provide an answer?
 
Little did they know that it would be the start of a whole new life for them.
 
In the years that followed, Cooper did further study in the field of Information Technology, along with a smattering of Business and Management, culminating with them graduating from the University of Southern Queensland in 2019 with a Bachelor of Information Technology.
 
They still remained curious about other things, of course. There was plenty to do in the world, plenty to occupy their time with in between semesters of study, nights, weekends, and while being in-between jobs. Art remained one of their long-time passions, thanks to an artistic grandfather who had an art shed (a place that was a haven for Cooper as a child), though their focus shifted from painting to sketching after one too many incidents of spilling paint on the pale pink carpet!
 
Covid stalled Cooper’s professional development; securing employment in such a time had not been easy beyond temp jobs. However, in 2021, they secured permanent employment at a service station. It wasn’t quite what they wanted, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, after all, and working with the systems were rather intriguing. In the years that followed, they remained dedicated to the position, which culminated in them being promoted to Assistant Manager in 2023.
 
2024, however, became the year of change for Cooper. Two major events reshaped their world.
 
The first occurred in February, when Cooper accidentally ingested something that they are severely allergic to, thanks to a restaurant mix-up. It wasn’t the ingestion of the allergen that was life-changing for Cooper - a sad fact of living with multiple allergies means that accidental ingestion can occur even if you try and do everything right – but rather the callous and rather ignorant way Cooper was treated after the fact by the staff at the restaurant and, later, their co-workers.
 
It made them wonder: how many out there had absolutely no idea that loved ones could possibly die should they make a mistake and serve them something wrong? It was that thought that led them to create the website The Allergic Life, which is currently offline and being rebranded. 
 
The second came only a month later. While on their way to work, they were struck down by car as a pedestrian. The impact, while not as severe as it could had been, led to multiple injures that required some time to convalesce. In the months that followed, they used the time to rediscover their two loves that had previously been ignored: technology, and art. Later that year, they decided that it was time to move on from their position. It wasn’t their passion, after all. Art, while a love and something that Cooper enjoys sharing with the world, isn’t either.
 
Technology remained Cooper’s one true passion, and they decided it was time to follow that. In the months since leaving the position in 2024, they have been working on developing further skills in Information Technology, with Linux and open source systems being their major focus. The development of which led to Cooper developing a new website: Ouvert d'Esprit.