I really don’t subscribe to the popular “we live in a simulation” theories or other deterministic schools of thought. I believe that people have free will. That’s why I maintain that I choose to attend Oregon State University completely of my of volition.
Oops, please disregard this family photo.
Okay, so I am the eleventh person in my family to graduate from OSU. My parents attended. My grandparents attended. My grandpa even was a football coach for OSU in the 80’s. I feel so privileged to have this lineage and my family’s immense support and understanding of higher education.
It was not a shock when I moved down to Corvallis. I loved being at OSU, watching women’s basketball games and being in Greek Life. After five years and a couple internships, I earned my Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering.
Industrial Engineering actually wasn’t my first choice of major. There was a time when I wanted to do Computer Science. I took one week of a CS course before pulling the plug. But that’s a story for another time.
I took an engineering job and was fortunate to be part of a great team. But I kept finding myself gravitating towards the data analytics side of things and away from manufacturing projects.
I started to realize that I was ready for a career pivot. I wanted to go into the data science world, but didn’t have the background. I looked at boot camps. I looked at Master’s programs. I was making money and I didn’t really want to go back to school full-time.
It would be corny to say that I found the OSU post-bacc program right in my own backyard. But technically, it was even closer than the backyard. The ability to do part-time, online school was right in my home office.
After two years of work, I will earn my Bachelor’s in CS from Oregon State this December. I’m really proud to be back at OSU. Higher education, Beaver Nation and my family are all so closely intertwined in my mind.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Go Beavs!
