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Paths Not Taken: Computer Science
So the other day, I got to thinking about one path not taken: Computer Science.
My junior year of high school, I didn’t own a computer myself, but I had read a few fiction books that I liked in which characters used computers, and in general, I loved the computers at school, even if I only ever used them for word processing my English papers. So, realizing even back then, that I would need a day job until I sold my first novel, I decided that I was going to major in Computer Science and minor in English.
And I was confident enough in my choice, that I signed up for Beginning Computer Science, A Code Class, and Interacting with Technology at Cornell University’s Summer College, despite the fact that I had never taken any kind of computer class ever, because my high school didn’t offer them.
You can probably guess where this is going.
I arrived to Cornell to find that most of my non-scholarship classmates were fresh out of prep school computer classes, many of them already knew code, a few of them I would have classified as slumming geniuses, and oh yeah, on the first day, we were informed that the class was graded on a curve. And moreover, there was a rumor going around that if you got less than a B in summer college, then you had NO chance of being accepted to Cornell University your senior year.
I had never been more over my head. But I got A’s in all my classes, not because I was any good at computer science, but because I worked harder than I’d ever worked on anything in my life, I asked for lots of help from the female grad student teaching the course, I studied 24/7 with the only other minority girl in my class (she was Indian and a ton smarter in Computer Science than me), and I did the extra credit, which happened to be an essay. During later correspondence with the female grad student, I discovered that I was only one that had bothered with the essay — apparently future computer scientists aren’t big on writing.
Then I never touched Computer fucking Science again. Didn’t even consider going to Cornell for a second when I got my letter of acceptance the next Spring. But it did teach me everything I needed to get by when I went down by (hopefully) true path of being a writer: Work hard, ask for help, women rock, and always ALWAYS do the extra credit. Because there’s a chance that no one else will.
Still, the other day, I kind of got mad at myself for not sticking with it. I did like Computer Science, even if it made me feel awful and dumb and I would’ve eventually caught up to my better-high-schooled peers. Of all the paths I haven’t taken, this is the only one with a challenge that I’ve backed down from.
But you know what, I’m not dead yet. And I think I’m going to look into taking some computer science classes after I retire. Think I won’t? Just watch me.
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By the time you retire, computer science will be more medical than anything as we will all have computer chips implanted into our brains! You may be better off spending time now reading science fiction since today's sci fi is tomorrow's real tech.
By the time you retire, computer science will be more medical than anything as we will all have computer chips implanted into our brains! You may be better off spending time now reading science fiction since today's sci fi is tomorrow's real tech.
Ernessa, did you make that heart? where you get all the chips?
Ernessa, did you make that heart? where you get all the chips?