I Chose CS Because Mom Said To
21 Jan 2020I Chose CS Because Mom Said To
So Many Choices
As I transferred to the University of Hawai’i, I was STUCK trying to figure out what degree I wanted on my diploma for undergraduate and graduate school. I had come from an all business school called Menlo College, and I didn’t want my career to be accounting for the rest of my life. I had a variety of choices to choose from when I transferred, so many that I couldn’t choose. After long nights of researching best jobs in Hawai’i, best salary jobs in Hawai’i, best projected salaries in Hawai’i, and taking “best fit job quizzes”, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go into architecture or dentistry. I shared my thoughts with my parents and my dad automatically said he wanted me to stay in accounting like he did, but he would support my decision. My mom however told me no, I should go into computer engineering. I did research and asked around about computer engineering to see if I could get a good job here in Hawai’i, but everyone said I’d have to go to the mainland for that major. Therefore, me and my mom came to a compromise of computer science. Little did I know, I’d end up loving what I do now.
My Journey Into CS
I am now two years into my CS degree and it has been a bumpy ride. This is one of the reasons why I love software engineering, though. Being an athlete, it has always fed and fueled my competitive side. Being a software engineering student gives me that same drive because there are many times when I get stuck on a coding problem that takes days to figure out, but when I finally get it, it’s the best feeling in the world. The little victories within coding has something so rewarding about it. Another interest of mine in software engineering is the freedom of creativity. There is never only one way to complete a task, and you can make it your own style. I love drawing and painting so my creativity likes to run wild. I relate coding to my arts because I consider it just making art out of words and characters instead of paint and pencils.
Taking It All In
I have one more year until I graduate from the university with a B.S. in computer science. I have just started taking courses that apply all of the introductory class materials into my actual code. My goal is to be an IT employee for Hawaiian Airlines. I hope to learn more about data security and IT in my future classes. I also want to be able to earn internships to experience real world coding and to prepare me for jobs that I want to apply for. I can’t specify any specific skills I want to develop in the future because I feel like a great coder can do it all. I feel that I should know how to do most because you never know what problems or situations you will run into during your career. Being well-rounded, I think, would make me more useful in the work field. I am just trying to take this major one step at a time taking it all in as I go.