Welcome to my blog!
My name is Chris Jacobs – I’m a soon-to-be graduate of Oregon State University’s postbaccalaureate computer science program and I’ll be completing my senior capstone this term.
The purpose of this blog is to not only document the progress of my capstone project, but also use it as a tool to reflect on my journey in getting this degree. My hope is that this self-reflection will provide me with a sense of accomplishment relating to the work that I’ve done over the last three years, as well as some much needed confidence as I begin the next part of my CS journey – finding a job.
But first, a little history.
Before Computer Science
I transitioned into computer science relatively late in life – I was 31 when I started at OSU. My original degree was from Portland State University where I received a BS in Psychology. Immediately after I graduated I started working with children who were living in a residential care facility and being treated for major psychiatric and/or developmental issues.
I worked there for three and a half years – three times longer than most people work before quitting. As incredibly difficult as the job was, I loved the work and loved the people I worked with.With that said, it was a job that left me with chronic knee and shoulder pain, multiple concussions, and fairly severe PTSD, all of which still affects me to this day.
So, in September of 2016, the week before I married my wife, I left to pursue a Masters in Social Work at Portland State University with the goal to become a child social worker.
However, in the middle of my internship, I withdrew from the program. The reasons I had for withdrawing probably deserve their own post, but in short, it was due to a combination of burnout and a growing feeling of contempt for the systems that govern child social work.
Starting Over
It took me a long time to get my bearings after I left my masters program. I had no desire whatsoever to apply for entry level (non-degree) social work positions. And I couldn’t bring myself to return to the work I was doing with kids in residential treatment – even if I had been wiling, my wife would have refused to let me go back.
My dad had been an electrical engineer at Intel for 25 years before he retired, so I had been interested in computers since I was around six years old. I had taken introductory CS coursework at PSU and for a while had considered choosing it as my major. So in August of 2017 I started dabbling in Python. That choice quickly reignited my interest in computer science.
I loved working through code challenges, feeling the frustration of getting stuck and then the elation that came when I finally grasped the solution. Perhaps more than that, I loved the essence of building software – designing something useful (or just fun), coding it, and immediately seeing the product of your work. And then the joy of learning more and being able to go back and improve what you made!
After years of working in social work and not being able to control anything I came across in my work, I quickly saw the liberation of being able to control everything in front of you. Discovering the power of computer programming is like discovering an all powerful staff; if you’re able to discover the required spells and recite the correct incantations, nothing stands in the way of creating what you are able to envision.
So after four months of a lot of depression and uncertainty, I decided that when it came to my career, I was going to start over. I started taking coursework at Portland Community College, eventually enrolling in their Associates program for Computer Information Systems. I can happily say that I never looked back.
(Part 2)