When I registered for my first semester of classes, I was sure of what I wanted to do. It wasn’t majoring in computer science. I had made up my mind that I was going to be an electrical engineer. I was still in the navy at this time and it made sense to me that if I was going to go to college, I should get a degree that’s the most similar to what I already work as – an electronics technician. I didn’t know what interested me about electrical engineering other than that an electrical engineer designed the radios I was repairing, and I liked repairing radios so I’ll probably like making them. It wasn’t for over two years that I would decide to change my plans and pursue a degree in something I actually loved doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first semester was rough. Although I had been through some schooling while in the navy, it had been almost 10 years since I had been in a classroom that wasn’t hands-on. I found myself studying the same math that I took in high school, only this time it was more difficult. But with the help of some amazing teachers at San Diego Mesa College, I was starting to learn how to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time I was studying calculus, I felt like I was really getting the ball rolling. While I was studying in San Diego, I mostly focused on core classes like math, writing, biology and chemistry. I always intended to transfer to a university, but I wanted to keep my options open as to where I would go. I decided to go to Oregon State University because I loved the idea of being near the mountains. Although I wasn’t planning it at this time, I also liked the idea that I could change my major easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two months before I was planning to make my move to Oregon, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. It was safe to say that I was feeling a little anxiety over making the thousand mile trip. I didn’t let that stop me, though. I moved from San Diego, California to Albany, Oregon and began classes at OSU in the fall of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My first term at OSU was similar to my first semester in San Diego. This time I was struggling with Intro to Computer Science II. I was taking electrical engineering classes now, but I also had to take some computer science classes. I thought this would be easy because I had taken a course that was equivalent to Intro to Computer Science I my last semester in San Diego. That class was easy – because it was disrupted by the announcement of a global pandemic. I withdrew from Intro to Computer Science II. I felt like I hated computer science. Why was C++ so hard for me? I decided that I wasn’t going to let this stop me from achieving my dream to be an electrical engineer. So I immersed myself in coding. I watched hundreds of YouTube tutorials. I read free books online. I handled the coding portion of an Arduino project in one of my electrical engineering classes. Then the next semester I took Computer Science II again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the fall term of 2021, I had changed my major to computer science. I learned that I didn’t want to pursue a degree in electrical engineering just because it seemed like the logical next step from being an electronics technician. I wanted to pursue a career that would be fulfilling for me. Now I am starting my Senior Capstone Project on Engineering Simulations with Game Development Tools. I couldn’t be more happy with the capstone project I will be working on and I’m excited to see where this will take me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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