What Brought Me to OSU?

So, what brought me to OSU in the first place?  I have a BS Mechanical Engineering degree from Texas A&M, 1985, and a BS Electrical Engineering from University of Texas at Dallas, 2002.  So why pursue a post-Baccalaureate in Computer Science from Oregon State University.

Well – 2 reasons:

• Inspired by a Triple-BS
  In 1987 I met a 3-BS while living in California and working indirectly as a contractor for the US Navy.  I asked him about his background and what he was doing there, and he mentioned he was designing a warehouse run by robotics.  He was working on a software program that would serve as a basis of operations for giants like Amazon, and Walmart down the road.  He did not mention these companies, and Amazon did not even exist then – but what he was doing was visionary.  He mainly pounded out code with a warm cup of coffee as a companion.  I remember him saying that in the final product, the warehouse would not even need lighting.
  
  I am unsure he ever contributed to that goal, and I would be very surprised if any code he wrote was incorporated by warehouse giants.  But he clearly enjoyed working on the problem.  He had grey hair, was overweight, and looked like Santa Clause.  I wonder if he was still around when Amazon took off.
  
  I was envious and knew that I too wanted to have broad knowledge in several engineering related fields.
  

• Bored with Video Games
  I spent too many years looking for something to do after work and eventually became involved with World of Warcraft.  I spent 6 years logging on for a bit here and there until I realized I wanted to do something more meaningful with my free time.  I looked around for a CS online curriculum.  I did not find anything, so I registered at UT-Dallas where I completed my Discrete Math course.  My spouse researched online alternatives here and there.  I looked at Phoenix but was unsatisfied by their curriculum.  My spouse stumbled across OSU which had positive reviews, and I registered.
  

I’ve programmed microcontrollers, but C8051 and ARM architecture.  I have also used BASIC, and FORTRAN in the past.  I am happy to finally be able to learn C, JavaScript, Python, and so many other languages.