Because of a Book
18 Sep 2019
The main reason I decided to study computer science comes from an unconventional idea from book I read when I was fifteen. This book, Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You, is built on the notion that passion is not “found” but cultivated over time, challenging the more commonly heard “follow your passion.”
I was taken aback by this at first, but as someone who has never had a dream job, I found myself wanting to agree with the idea and gradually came to realize how true it was in regards to my own life.
A Logical Approach to Music
When I was seven, my parents enrolled me in piano lessons. I had wanted to learn how to play piano, and have asked about lessons, but even if I didn’t want to, I probably would’ve had to take them anyway. Although I don’t have much of an explanation for why I wanted to learn to play piano, I somehow figured out how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star before I took lessons. I don’t have an explanation for how I “learned” to do that either, other than I sat at the piano and played keys in a certain order until it matched the tune.
Eventually, I learned that this is called playing by ear, but I mostly used sheet music until I stopped taking piano lessons. While I wanted a break from sight-reading, I did want to keep playing piano. I took the same trial-and-error approach as I had done for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, but as I was trying to put together an accompaniment to to the melody, I noticed that each note in the melody was part of a chord. Though the chords were often out of their perfect form, they did contain the same notes.
I Won’t Readily Admit to Being a STEM Person
Thinking back on this after reading Newport’s book made me wonder that I would major in computer science in college, even though I virtually had no idea what computer science was at that time. My assumption was that it would be similar to math, which I’ve tended to find math the easiest (not anymore), but more easily applied to other fields. This latter part was attractive to me because I’ve generally found social studies courses the most meaningful throughout my education. As for math, Discrete Math 301 last spring definitely changed my view on math in that “real” math doesn’t involve much plugging and chugging.
I’ll be honest: Computer science courses haven’t been among my favorite classes until this semester. What kept me wanting to pursue it further was the discussion of language in computing in 111, which got me interested in doing something that blends computer science and the humanities. In the meantime, I’ll aim to develop my skills and expand my knowledge in 314.