Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Smallish Post 4 - Why I declared Computer Science
After coming home from my mission, I decided that I wasn't willing to put in the work to get a degree in Cello performance, and that it would just be a hobby of mine. What got me into computer science was my cousin, Andrew. Andrew was majoring in computer science, and I thought that if he could do it, I could too. I ended up liking the intro class enough to declare the major before the semester was through. If I hadn't had someone like Andrew to show me that computer scientists aren't all geeks and recluses, I wouldn't even have considered a career in computers. If that social stigma would have prevented me, a male student, from entering computer science, how much more would the perceived environment scare away female students?
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I think that there is much we can do to change the culture revolving around computer science. Most of the time people think of a man cave full of old pizza boxes and computer terminals, filled with sleepy young men with big glasses who haven't bathed for a week. What would happen if everyone in CS were to get a hobby for something that isn't related to CS at all? What if, on the weekends, CS majors went home and rode horses? Or learned how to draw comics? Or picked up latin dancing? Then, when people looked at those who are in CS, they would see well-rounded people who simply enjoy thinking and creating for a living. They would see that they don't have to pick up all the crazy stereotypes that go along with it. And, in the end, having well-rounded CS majors would probably make for much better employees also :)
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