My Field of Interest

A Look into Computer Science...

Although I am currently an Undecided major at the University of Arizona, I have several interests in different fields. One of my favorites is Computer Science, which has been a point of interest for me as I've grown up surrounded by technology. Below, I answer questions pertaining to this field from my perspective of curiosity while investigating controversies within the sphere of Computer Science today.

jarmoluk, "Keyboard" 3 December 2013 via pixabay.com.
Under CC0 Public Domain License.

• What do you students in this program learn how to do?

• Students who study Computer Science learn about computer systems through critically thinking about how humans can interact with and create computers, from a scientific perspective. In Computer Science classes, students learn by designing computer programs and studying theory of software design, in addition to learning about computer hardware to understand the machine itself.

• What do people who get degrees in this field usually go on to do for work?

• Graduates holding a degree in Computer Science can enter a wide array of fields, as computers are becoming more and more essential to our lives everyday. Degree holders can go on to work at Information Technology (IT) positions for businesses that need to meet demands through computers and analytics. Alternatively, Computer Science graduates can work with companies to design new software for products or websites, or even entertainment-related industries such as video games or computer generated imagery used in movies, however those areas require graphic design experience as well.

• What draws you to this field?

• The two main appeals of Computer Science to me are its applicability, and its teaching of useful skills to allow for creativity. Out of most of my interests in fields of study, Computer Science is easily the most reliable in terms of applicability to the job market, as computers are so prevalent in society today that people skilled with computer and software design are in high demand. However, I'm also very interested in the creative opportunities presented by knowledge in Computer Science, because having computer and design skills allows you to create your own software and designs, which I find very engaging.

• Who are the most exciting people or entities involved in your field right now? Why?

• One exciting, influential person in Computer Science today is Elon Musk, a successful businessman and software designer who owns companies such as Tesla Motors and SpaceX. One of his most notable accomplishments in the field of software design was his designing of PayPal, a service that is now used frequently all over the world to digitally manage money for various transactions. Today, Elon Musk is a visionary in renewable energy, space exploration, and more through computer design and technological advancement.

• What are the leading academic/scholarly journals in your field? Where are they published? Provide the names and locations of at least three.

• Using an academic journal search engine powered by Microsoft, I found numerous leading journals in the field of computer science. Among them were Artificial Intelligence, published by Elsevier B.V., Computer Communications Review published by the ACM subsidiary called The Special Interest Group for Data Communications (SIGCOMM), and lastly, Communications of the ACM which is published by The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Reflection

What I learned in reading Dominique's and Kyle's posts about their majors, physiology and biomedical engineering respectively, was that thinking of your future is vital to achieving your goals. That may sound cliche, but I mean it in that both of them in their posts used what they want to be doing in the future drive them and lead them in their search of a major, from where they can each work towards their ultimate future field. For example, Kyle wants to be in medicine, and used that drive to find a way to into the medical field using his strength in math, resulting in his choice of biomedical engineering. Likewise, Dominique wants a future in medicne and decided it was best to reach that goal through the Physiology major because it prepares her for a wide variety of positions in medicine that apply learned skills everyday, rather than researching. What I obtained from reading these posts is that I should keep in mind where I want to be in the future, and use that drive to find a way to get there through a major that prepares me to achieve my aspirations.