I started the Oregon State Computer Science Post-Bacc program in summer 2021, and I am excited to graduate this March. My original goal was to finish in 2023, but it has taken a little longer than that since I decided to take one class at a time most terms. I think this was a good decision because it helped prevent me from getting burned out, and it allowed me take time to digest the coursework with the more challenging classes (looking at you, Algorithms).
My two favorite classes have been Data Structures because I thought the assignments were well-designed (and I just love data) and Open Source Software because I got to study and work on real-world projects. To my own surprise, I also really enjoyed the lower-level programming courses like Operating Systems and Computer Architecture/Assembly Language. I probably won’t use C or assembly in my career, but learning how computers work “under the hood” has been cool and deepened my understanding of computer science and programming.
I appreciate the flexibility of this program which allowed me work full time so that I could continue to advance in my career. When I started the program, I worked as a lab technician, and since then I have advanced into a bioinformatics position within my organization, which would have not been possible without the programming skills I developed.
While I’m almost finished with this second degree, I don’t think my academic journey is quite finished yet. Although this program has provided a great foundation for software development, I’m interested in pursuing a computer science master’s degree in data-science-focused topics that my coursework did not cover, like machine learning, artificial intelligence, informatics, computational statistics, and “big data”. I find these topics fascinating and I think studying them will make me more competent within the field of bioinformatics and expand my knowledge of computer science in general.
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