4 Reasons To Study Computer Science
Dear Alice,
Today I would like to take some time and to talk to you about my profession as a computer scientist. As you already know it, my majors as a student were formerly mathematics and computer science, and latter technical mathematics and programming.
Yes, I am quite often asked about my professional choices and about the reasons behind it, and this is after all a natural question that everyone is being asked at one point or another in their life. It is the curiosity, the circumstances, the habit, the unknown, and many other factors. I am sure you are familiar with the concept. For me, the answer to this question is by now quite automatic, so I rarely reflect on the choices that lead me to this path, a path that I still embrace with a lot of enthusiasm and commitment!
So what are the main reasons that determine me to start studying computer science and to continue being captivated by this area?
- Hmm, this definitely started in primary school and continued in high-school. I am pretty sure it was in high-school that I realized I liked solving mathematical problems as part of the homework we had to solve every day. It was these special homework containing optional and more difficult exercises that I always found so challenging to solve. “Weren’t they difficult?” you could ask me. Yes, they definitely were, but I saw them as challenges, as enigmas that needed to be solved. (Actually I still try to do this, whenever difficult situations or problems may arise my way.) And after all how do you define difficult? Only because a problem or a situation is presented in another perspective than the normal limits you are used to does not make it difficult. It makes it different, but not difficult.
- Therefore there we have it reason number one: Problem-solving skills do relate to the real world.
- So by the time I applied to the university I was pretty much sure I wanted to study mathematics. Computer science came as a complement…I must say I did not have the chance to study computer science in high-school, as my curriculum was part of the old educational Romanian system, and computer science was at that time still “unexplored territory” in high-schools. So most likely it was this new controversial, “unexplored territory” that was still left for me to digest, and this definitely brought computer science into my life. An “unexplored territory” that I gradually came to assimilate and to understand. Whereas fascinated by the power of computers, I must say that I am definitely still amazed by the rapid advance of computer and technology in our every day life. And off the top of my head, this can be noticed in domains such as for instance wireless technologies, smart phones, automotive, robotics, etc. It seems that the computer era suffered a visible exponential growth in the last couple of years that most likely will continue to increase in the nearby future. And I am definitely planning to be part of this process.
- And here it is reason number two: Computer science is an expanding technology, which suffered an exponential growth in the last couple of years. What is about to come may be pretty much awesome for all of us, so why not be an active participant to it rather than only a passive spectator?
- University years passed quite fast from my perspective, and I quickly discovered the resemblance between mathematics and its sibling computer science with the help of some practical topics: mathematical logic, Turing machines, logic programming, Lisp, programming paradigms, just to name a few. Even though I still find mathematics a provocative domain, I must say that both computer science and programming remain for me those domains, which will always bring new challenges along the way for me to discover. New challenges that can contribute and can influence my thinking and my abilities to solve problems in every day life situations. So, mathematics has paved the way for me – a way full of analytical thinking, logical thinking, and constructive patterns-, whereas computer science has opened a new door for me, a door full of opportunities and challenges.
- Yep, there it is reason number three: A solid knowledge foundation, that can be applied to many other areas and that enables you to evolve constantly in your professional life and even in your personal life.
- By the time I wrote my bachelor and then my master diploma, I kind of knew that computer science is my future choice-to-be. I wanted to pursue my way into this fascinating area and dig deeper into the captivating world of technology and computer science. And so I did. Until I was like 27 years old. When I decided that studying and university does have an ending for my career. And so my life into the challenging area of industrial programming started!
- And last but not least reason number forth: Computing is all around us and it is an ever-expanding field! The digital area is only at its beginnings!
So that is pretty much my career path and the most important reasons that paved my way into this excited world of technology and computer science! I must say that if I were to choose again I would make the same choice again and I would not think twice about it 🙂 .
Sincerely yours,
Madalina