“Hello world!”…I’ve never seen a more appropriate greeting to a blog. Like many others, the very first program I learned to write was a simple Hello World program in Java. I was in my first official class in the Computer Science program at Southern Oregon University, the same college I had graduated from five years earlier. In that moment, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I had taken the first step towards my future career aspirations. The world was mine for the taking…or at least that’s what I thought.
Over the next year and a half with SOU, I struggled with my coursework. I was working 50+ hours a week as a law enforcement dispatcher, on night shift, all while trying to keep up with my 8am classes. During this time, SOU’s CS program was also going through some major changes. The tenured professors were nearing retirement and the department was struggling to find adequate replacements. The number of working interviews (hopeful applicants would come teach a class on their topic of choice) we had to watch was painful. I could feel myself getting burnt out. That’s when I stumbled upon Oregon State University’s post bacc CS program. It was exactly what I needed. I put in my application and was accepted.
I started with OSU spring term of 2020. I was so nervous after having struggled so much towards the end of my time at SOU. I had predominantly coded in Java and C and had zero experience with Python. Thankfully, it was right at the start of the pandemic, so I was spending all of my free time at home. I spent spring break that year binge watching Lost and studying Python. I was able to adapt to the structure at OSU fairly quickly and after leaving my job as a dispatcher and moving to California, I had even more time to dedicate to my education. I even started applying some of the things I was learning to my everyday life.
Fast forward to today. I’ve just started my final term with OSU and I have that feeling of accomplishment back that I felt after my first “Hello World!” program. I’m eager to get started on my capstone project and to learn as much as I can over these next ten weeks. I know it won’t be easy but I’m excited for the journey. Stay tuned.