CompSci 6 : Spring 2009

Interests

I am a Pre-Med Biology major with a Psychology minor. Most of my other courses are all science-related. I decided to take computer science because I needed a QS and figured the most interesting and useful course to take would be it. A couple of my favorite webpages to visit are Facebook, Duke Blue Planet, and IMDB because I love movies.

Programming Experience

I first started using a computer when I was a little kid. After I learned you could play games on it, I couldn't ever seem to get off it. My dad has always been good with computers, so I learned most of what I know from him. He has actually built his own computer before from old pieces of other computers. In elementary school, the only type of computers my school had were Macintosh's, but at home I have always used PC's and have since forgotten how to use Mac's. I do just about everything I can on a computer, from watching movies to schoolwork to keeping in touch with friends from afar. I definitely spend too much time during the day just randomly browsing the internet. My first experience with Computer Science was during my freshman year of high school. Although I was not particularly good at it, I felt like it was definitely one of the more interesting and entertaining classes I have taken. I've always been curious as to how such a simple-looking machine could be able to perform so many outrageous functions. I think I am most looking forward to writing programs for games, especially ones I have often played. In the future, I see myself using the computer in the same ways that I do now.  Doctors often use computers nowadays to look up patient information in the hospital databases, so if I do in fact become a physician, I expect to be doing much of that in the future.

My friend's dad is a computer scientist, and he will never go anywhere without a computer. Even on vacations, he always has his computer within a foot of himself. The good thing that I've noticed about his job is that he often gets to work at home. My typical mental image of a computer scientist is a male with glasses glued to a computer desk. However, I have never doubted that the things they do are very important for the development of the world's technology and to society itself. Like Jim Morris says, "Computer science is not about a device but about ideas crucial to the next millennium." This is why it is crucial for everyone across all occupations to have at least some schooling in Computer Science. Computer science not only teaches you crucial information about the computer but also allows you to develop your problem-solving skills as well. Steve Lohr's article helped me to understand that the work of computer scientists is really needed in all disciplines. Thus, it is very obvious that you don't need to be majoring in Computer Science to take the course, and the benefits of learning will reveal themselves in the future.