The past 4 months that have opened my eyes
The past four months have gone by so quickly that they seem to be a blur. I’ve spent that time at university for the first time in my life, and I’ve met countless new people, some whom I’m certain will become life-long friends.
I have also learned a lot about myself while at university that I wouldn’t have otherwise figured out on my own. This list is in no way comprehensive, as I’ve definitely changed in many more ways than I can count (primarily in a good way), and I hope that spending more time at university will help me to better figure out who I am. Here are some things that I’ve learned about myself and about life in general:
- I prefer Arts rather than Mathematics. Those who have known me for a long time know that I have a strong affinity for computers, and more specifically, the future of the web, but I’ve figured out that this doesn’t necessarily mean that Computer Science is the natural choice for me. I haven’t made any final decisions yet, but I feel like I’m leaning more towards a more creative program now that I’ve finally dipped my toes into the water.
- Take initiative and follow your dream. I’m in the ‘co-operative education’ program at the University of Waterloo, and this allows me to find jobs at employers that have deals with the university. Instead of taking that typical route that most students do, I decided to find jobs on my own through my own network of contacts. I understand that many students don’t have that luxury, or that many are simply looking for jobs that aren’t found within their network of friends, but if possible at all, I recommend that you look hard to find out if you know anyone who works at the company that you’d like to work for, or who is a part of a company that has goals that are similar to what you would like to achieve.
- Be prepared to embrace the culture of others. University is an excellent example of a densely populated melting pot, regarding both culture and ideas. It’s a great place to find people with similar interests with you, and yet, with different perspectives. This is an excellent situation to bounce ideas off of each other and innovate.
These are all that I can think of so far (I haven’t gotten much sleep these past few days - it’s really been hectic!), but if I come up with more, I’ll add them in.
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The life in university is always a memorable experience that you will never forget. That’s completely different from someone taking course after working a couple years then returning back to school. You’re in a stage of fearless and no worry that you can afford your time to pursuit your dream.
Write down your achievement and/or experience from now on. You will be surprised for what you have been done same time next year after a series of hard work.
Arts?! Arts?!?!
Hells yeah
Math. Ugh. Too strict; too many restrictions.
So what you’re really saying is that you’ve discovered that UW Math/CS is hard and you’re not interested/inclined/capable of rising to the challenge.
Fine. Just understand that being a code jockey *isn’t* computer science and that you’ll be missing all of the interesting, creative things you could be doing. Programming in the current trendy language on the current trendy OS isn’t the point — knowing *why* the programming language is the way it is, and how to make a better language, how to reduce the errors in your programs and how to design a better OS *is* creative but you’ll never know, I guess.
And in case you think you’re unique in your attitude, you aren’t. People who can’t do the math have been switching to other less rigorous programs for 40 years at UW.
Gary,
Would you be interested in sharing your experiences finding employment on your own with co-op students at Waterloo? I am a writer for the Inside Scoop, a newsletter directed towards co-op students, and would love to interview you. Please contact me if this interests you.
Brielle
Anon Ymous,
I was never really sure what computer science was all about in the first place; not exactly. My high school has extremely simple ‘computer science’ courses, and those who have attended the classes would agree. Also, I didn’t intend on being even in the computers field for a long part of my career, as well, and so I ended up deciding that Computer Science wasn’t necessarily the best program for me.
Anon Ymous - I think your comment was rather bastardly.
One cannot know what they like until they dive into it. It isn’t about meeting challenges - it is about what you find interesting. For some people, math is interesting, and the ‘challenge’ of advanced math sustains that interest. For others, you just think - why the hell do I care about euler’s principle?
Your last line yells of elitism. Just because something is different (and appears ‘easier’ to you) does not make it less challenging. I look forward to your upcoming novel and artwork.
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