Sometimes I feel silly going to school.
Even though I am, by technicality, a “graduate student”, I am still taking undergraduate classes in computer science since I’m in the transitory period between becoming an aerospace engineer to a computer scientist. One of the courses that I’m taking is a software engineering course that seems to be mostly comprised of juniors and seniors, and my professor ties in a lot of real-world work experience in making the material of software engineering come alive. Without a doubt, this class is by far my favorite class since I like a systematic, disciplined approaches to design and also because for each topic, I could relate with my own work experience, even though it may not have been directly related to software.
My professor talks a lot about different roles and functions people have (requirements analysis, programmers, designers, SQA, etc) and also reminds us to open our mind to what sort of role we, the students, see ourselves in. Whenever I think about, it ends up turning into a higher level thought of, “What do I want with a Master’s degree in Computer Science?”
I do know that I want to complement my Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering with this Master’s. From my time working, it’s apparent of the role that computer science plays into engineering (albeit aerospace or not) and I’ve adapted the attitude that to become a good engineer that deals with systems hardware, it would be good to also be able to understand that system’s software. And of course, there are the other factors too such as the fact that the brink of new technologies deals with computers and that this line of study is applicable to a seemingly unlimited number of industries.
Just, will I ever end up actually working on aerospace and computer science applications?
Will I end up eventually forgoing my aerospace engineering degree and end up sticking to software, or vice versa?
I know I have a lot of time to figure out where my specific interests are in computer science. I suppose my fear with taking up two (or more) disciplines is that I would end up becoming a jack-of-all-trades, master of nothing. And that would be kind of amusing and contradictory since I am pursuing a Master’s degree.
