Since I covered the origins of my interest in computers in last week’s post, I figured a discussion about what the future may hold for me upon completion of the program would be an appropriate transition this week.
I entered this program with a desire to leave the field of Mechanical Engineering after 15 years of work experience to transition into the world of Computer Science. I honestly had no initial idea of what this change would potentially result in. Previously I’d dabbled with teaching myself various buzz-word topics that I’d hear about from various sources. I always had the feeling that I was running in circles chasing my tail, as there was no rhyme or reason to the subjects I was exploring. Starting the program initially amplified that feeling even more upon seeing that most of what the curriculum covered were topics that I’d never explored before. This feeling soon faded though as I realized that I had finally been presented with a road map to guide me along the way.
After two years of progressing through the required lower-level classes I reached the point of being able to take my upper-level electives. I started out with Data Science & Machine Learning, followed it with Introduction to Parallel Programming, and am currently enrolled in Introduction to Computer Graphics to wrap things up.
Of the three, Parallel Programming and Computer Graphics have resonated with me the most. I also dabble with music production software as a hobby, and recently discovered that most of the applications I use are written in C++, which was the language I learned in 161/162. Based on my experience with these, my current goal is to potentially go into simulation or game programming, computer graphics or animation, or music production software development. I’m looking forward to discovering what opportunities in these fields present themselves in the coming months.
