Bachelor in Computer Science - University of Wyoming - (Winner)
Editors Note: This computer science student story was selected as second place winner in BrainTrack's Computer Science Schools Scholarship for Spring 2010. At the time of submittal, Zeb Fross was studying for a Bachelor in Computer Science at University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.
Wishes Had Known | Program Likes/Dislikes | Choosing Computer Science
What do you wish you had known about selecting and entering your computer science school that would be helpful to others going into computer science?
It is hard for me to answer this question because there is very little that I have not enjoyed about the computer science program here. I was incredibly blessed to have chosen a major about which I am truly passionate. There are things I may have liked to know before almost blindly walking into it, but there is nothing for which I could ask that would make my experience better. That is not helpful to entering students, however, so here are a few things I think would have helped make me more secure in my decision.
With as little experience I had with computer science before college, there was a large possibility that I would not enjoy it. I could have benefited greatly from visiting the school's computer science department to meet with the faculty and even some students. That would have given me a better feel for what it is like. By talking to students, I could have gotten an idea of what I should expect and what I could do to better prepare myself for the program.
To help me choose my school, I could have also looked at the schools who consistently win computer science competitions around the nation. I had no idea there were so many competitions until I competed in several through ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery. There are a number of impressive schools who consistently place amongst the top of these competitions. This is strongly indicative of their computer science program and is an excellent way for a prospective student to gauge the school.
In the end, the most important advice I can give for selecting a school is this: whatever school you choose, be happy with it! I am a firm believer in making the most out of whatever life gives you. No matter what school you choose, your experience will be determined heavily by your attitude. What I learn in the classroom is an excellent guide for what I can learn on my own outside of the classroom. Ultimately, you determine how good or how bad your education will be, so you might as well consciously decide to make it good.
What have you enjoyed most and least during your computer science degree program so far?
Considering how unknown the computer science field was to me as I came to college, I was incredibly blessed for it to have gone as well as it did. I have enjoyed every minute of it. First of all, I have met a lot of interesting people. Because I came from such a small town, I was not able to socialize with very many like-minded people. Here at the University of Wyoming, however, I have been able to meet an incredibly diverse group of people. I believe it is important to have this interaction because it fosters a broader perspective of the world and prevents narrow-mindedness.
It has not only been a pleasure meeting the students but also the professors. Before I came to college, I received a great piece of advice. I was told to get to know at least two of my professors during my first semester. Because of that advice, I was encouraged to foster relationships with my teachers that I could carry with me for the rest of my college career. Because of these relationships I have built, a whole world of opportunities has been opened up to me.
This interaction outside of the classroom has only helped me learn more inside of the classroom. I have enjoyed every single computer class I have taken so far, and I cannot imagine that changing. Everything I have learned has made me realize how little I knew, coming into the major. I think this has made it more fun for me because I can genuinely learn something new every day. The courses I am currently taking are starting to get into the meat of computer science, making them even more enjoyable.
I only have one complaint about the program so far. It was brought to light by a teacher's assistant during my first semester. We were analyzing one of my programs, and he pointed out that the early computer science classes teach strictly syntax, only lightly touching on programming best practices like commenting, code organization, and other fundamental elements to computer science. One of the reasons I enjoyed programming was writing beautiful code, but I have been devoid of guidance in that area until this semester, as a junior. This is frustrating for me because writing code that is simply functional is not good enough for the professional world. There is a tremendous difference between good code and great code. If we had been taught these simple principles early on, we would be considerably more prepared for the real world of computer science.
What led you to choose computer science as a career path?
My path to computer science may be a little bit different than many. I virtually chose the major on a whim. In high school, I received no formal computer science training because my school was too small. All the classes I took were general math and science classes. Even my extra-curricular activities did not support my decision. I played in the concert and marching band for six years. I participated in every drama production my school put on since I was in the 5th grade. I participated in Speech and Debate for all four years of high school and was first in the state at extemporaneous speaking my senior year. All these things should have led up to a major in the arts or equivalent, but, even though I was good at it and enjoyed it, I knew it was not what I wanted to do.
I would soon discover that my true passion was computers. At the time, I did not know it because I had little experience with them. My earliest experience with computer science was during my junior year. I started dating the daughter of the computer tech at my school. Because I spent so much time at their house, I quickly gained an interest for the projects on which he was working. He lent me a copy of Flash 8 with an instruction manual. I read through the manual and learned all I could about Flash ActionScript; I was hooked. The power and control I had when writing the code was addictive. That is where my love for computers began. I even started writing programs on my graphing calculator to calculate common algebra formulas. Because there were not many opportunities for me in the field, I had to take every one I could find.
I was recruited by the school's athletic director to build a web page for the scholarships available to high school students. At the time, our web-development tool was Notepad, so it was quite tedious. After typing in the first few scholarships by hand, I noticed a great deal of repetition with formatting and organizing. I then realized that I could write a program that would take the large list of scholarships and format them for me. I used my knowledge of ActionScript to write the program, and it worked like a charm! It made me realize that there was something special about it and that it was something I needed to further investigate.
I tried to figure out why I enjoyed computer programming so much, and I found several things that attracted me to it. I enjoyed having that power at my fingertips. Knowing that my program designs were only limited by my ambition to learn was an amazing feeling. It made me feel like anything was possible. I also enjoyed making my programs look nice. I am a very organized person, so I enjoyed making everything look just right. Along with making my programs look nice, I always felt the need to make them efficient, as well. I enjoyed using my logic to not only find solutions but to find good solutions.