I have been out of school for approximately three years, and this semester was my first semester back. I was extremely nervous getting back into the routine of going to class, hoping I would not become tired of school, overwhelmed by the work, or feel as though I picked the wrong major. I have always had a passion for technology, and computers specifically, so I figured a degree in IT would suit me best. I soon discovered, after a few CSIT classes, my assumption was correct. From day one I have been extremely interested (even in topics I did not think I would be - like robotics) in learning about information technology.
I remember the first couple of classes we had we discussed binary. I never thought of binary being interesting, but I found it pretty fascinating. The way computers store images: each bit representing a different color, and each color is represented as a binary number. The way audio and video is stored. The first few weeks were actually some of my favorite because a lot of seemingly simple questions I had were answered. Learning which parts were needed to build a computer, and then going online and finding each part I would use to build my own personal computer was fun.
To be honest, I dreaded learning about some of the topics we had later in class: HTML, programming, and especially robotics. I never thought I would show an interest in any of these. I was wrong. I enjoyed making a webpage from scratch. I have used programs such as Dreamweaver in the past to make a quick website, but never fully understood what each line of HTML meant. I was glad to finally learn what each tag stood for. As for programming, I actually thought it was pretty neat how I was in control of what was going to happen on screen. I could change one thing in scratch, and something different would happen on screen. Finally, my most dreaded topic, robotics. I always found robotics interesting, but never really had any desire to figure out how they work. Once we started messing around with the Lego kits I actually found it intriguing; telling the robot what to do on the computer, uploading it to the robot, and watching him do as you wanted him to was awesome.
Overall I have had an awesome experience in CSIT. I am very appreciative of teachers like Dr. Brown – he makes a topic, like computers, something that could be extremely monotonous, and makes it fun and exciting. Because of work and real life occurences I did have to miss a couple classes, and I regret that I had to, because I genuinely looked forward to each CSIT class. Learning about a topic you are so passionate about is rewarding, and because of this one class I realize I picked the correct career field – Thanks Dr. Brown!
