From Biology to Coding…
Going into my first year of undergrad in UCSD was a unnerving process filled with uncertainty and doubt. Coming in, I had no idea what I wanted to study, do with the rest of my life, or even what pair of shoes I would wear for my first day of lectures. I eventually ended up choosing to study Physiology & Neuroscience. This seemed like the only viable major to choose since most of my dad’s side was comprised of professionals in the medical field and that was the area my parents were keen on me in eventually ending up at. It was easier for me to just accept this major as something I wanted to do not only because of the support of my parents, but also because it was what my roommates and friends were also choosing to study. Sure the pre-medicine major was enticing for the career some people would end up with as a result of going through the program, but I knew by my last year of undergraduate college that I was not happy with my choice and not passionate at the idea of becoming a healthcare professional.
It was then at my last quarter in UCSD that I took an elective on True Basic programming. It was an elective class which I took without thought as something I needed to satisfy the last of my graduating requirements. Surprisingly, I ended up loving the class. One project I fondly remember from the class was having the students create a simple game program of any theme we desired. I chose to create a rock, paper, scissors type of game in the guise of a fighting game with characters from a famous video game, Overwatch. After completing the class and receiving my degree, I sort of passed through the next year not really knowing what to do until I landed a job at a small software company as an IT tech. You may be thinking that this is where I discovered what I really wanted to do and found a new interest in IT, but unfortunately no. This job actually made me realize I did not want to specialize in IT. The job did, however, lead me to look into other tech fields. Remembering my old elective class of True Basic I researched about coding and software development and then into free coding tutorial sites such as Codeacdemy. After dabbling a bit with introductory coding I was convinced this was something I could jump into with full interest.
I remember sitting at my desk at my IT job during my breaks to look up how I could start learning how to code or receiving an education on it after graduating with a degree on a subject I was no longer pursuing. After several days of researching and contemplation, I decided to apply for OSU’s online program for Computer Science. To my joy I had gotten into the program a few weeks after applying, and now here I am in my last quarter of the program about the graduate. To think I owe where I am today to an old electives class on True Basic.
