College 101

After I settled on a major in college, it took me a while to respect the importance of my decision and the impact of the learning process with the computer science curriculum. I began my CS career at BGSU with a certain amount of hesitation.

Prior to BGSU, my programming experience was hobbyist in nature: I learned BASIC on the Commodore 64 (an old hand-me-down) around 1994, and dabbled with BASIC in a couple forms (DarkBASIC, Visual Basic 4,5,6 in high school), but never considered it as a true career choice. After my first year of trying my hand in a couple different areas of study (VCT, creative writing) at BGSU, I gave up on trying to ignore the fact that computers were my primary interest. Midway through my second year at BGSU, I finally settles on computer science as my major. What a day that was: going from office to office around campus, gathering signatures from various advisors, to officially declare how the rest of my life would be shaped.

Anywho, point is, it wasn't until my final year and a half at BGSU that I took programming very, very seriously. For the most part, I was decent with programming, and took a laid-back approach to assisgnments, projects, and programs. I read the necessary textbooks, went over the necessary handouts, and got by from semester to semester for the most part. For a while, I was in college for the sake of finishing college. I think a lot of my friends were (and are) like that. There is a strong mentality, especially after five years, to want college to end - to do whatever it takes to be done. Now that I'm done and working professionally, I have this to say:

I wish I had more time. Taking college super-seriously for just three semesters is not nearly enough. In many ways I envy my sister... she didn't go to college right out of high school, instead opting to work and start a new life (almost literally). Having done that, I think she has had an opportunity to focus on what she would really want out of a college education. She will appreciate the fruits of the experience much better. I've seen plenty of people who "just work" for a living, and they all intend to or are just going back to college. They want to go to college. I didn't want to go to college; I just grew up learning that it was what came next after high school - and I consequently did not fully appreciate the experience until it was pretty damn late in the fourth quarter with my team down by a field goal. Luckily I made that field goal and finished strong.

But not is all lost for me, of course. I can already see the value of a masters degree down the road, and when it's time for me to focus on that education, I will certainly dive in head first, quite willing, able, and excited about the opportunities that further education can present to me.

B3 out.