It is hard to believe that I am in my last class of my computer science degree. This process began two years ago, when I was feeling uneasy about my future in nursing. The world was mid-pandemic, and I was in the middle of nursing school. Although there were aspects of nursing I really enjoyed, the burnout I was seeing around me created doubts in my mind about how sustainable the career would be for me in the long run.
During this time my partner was studying android development. I took an interest in his studies and he introduced me into the world of programming. I appreciated the logic/problem solving aspect of his work and also loved that he was learning to build tools to improve and optimize his own daily life. I remember thinking to myself that I could do that too. At the same time I happened to come across a youtube video of a former nurse who burned out of healthcare and went back to school for computer science. He said he found a program that was for people who already had a degree, and was only 2 years rather than 4. He completed it and had already spent several years working as a programmer. This was how I discovered OSU’s postbacc computer science program. It just so happened that at that moment the deadline to apply for the next term was in 2 weeks. I figured it would not hurt to just apply, not having any idea if I could even get in. Shortly after I heard that I did in fact get in, and then I had to make the difficult decision of whether I was going to stay in my prestigious nursing program that I spent 2 years trying to get into, or take a leap of faith and jump into this unknown world of computer science. Obviously I wouldn’t be here if I had picked the former, and I really have not looked back since.
Learning to program has been full of emotional ups and downs, technical successes and failures, however overall I have really enjoyed the journey. While I still feel like there is just so much I don’t know in this immense field, I do feel like I have developed the skill of being able to learn and understand complex computer science concepts, and I feel quite proud of myself for that. I am looking forward to this upcoming capstone project to display this skill exactly, where I hope to use technologies and skills I have already learned but also to level them up either by pairing them with new technologies I haven’t used before or diving into more complex features. I also hope that this project gives me more experience programming closely with others. It is definitely a skill to be able to communicate about code effectively, in a way that is clear and concise and well understood. Observing my partner in his role as an android developer has significantly heightened the importance I attribute to this skill. While most days he does not actually write that many lines of code, he is constantly on the phone with others discussing topics that can be abstract and confusing. The biggest cost to the the companies time and money are when miscommunications occur. Since our CS program is online and asynchronous, I have not had too many opportunities to exercise this muscle. I know that it is a skill that I need to refine more in order to have success in the industry.
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