I actually know what my major is!
I always knew I wanted to be an engineer. I love solving problems, designing solutions, and I think Q from James Bond is the coolest thing since sliced bread. My indecision came from not knowing what kind of engineering I wanted to do so I applied to USC as an undecided engineer. Its been a wild journey but with all the resources available at my disposal I found my passion for Computer Science.
It was the most embarrassing thing during the roll call for Viterbi. When Dean Yates called off the majors numerous hands went up for each but when she called for the “Undecided Engineers” my hand stood out like my first pimple. Later, on the first day of “intro to undecided- engineering” (funny right?) Dean Yates spoke to all of us and told us we picked the best major. She told us Viterbi knew that it was normal not to know what interested us and that the staff was ready to meet, explain their majors, and help guide us. After that I wasn’t so embarrassed to be undecided.
I declared Industrial & Systems Engineering because it had the most flexible second semester schedule since I was still a little unsure. Fortunately, CSCI-101 Intro to Computer Programming was a required course for ISE and thats where it all started to come together. Professor Saty was so passionate about teaching computer science that I came into his office hours after about two weeks to sit down and talk to him about the possibilities of coding. He gave me more ways to explore computer science, showed me this nifty tech magazine, and even offered me a job over the summer! Ultimately, him telling me that I would excel in Computer Science was encouraging enough that I switched!
Coming to USC I had no idea what I wanted but thanks to the Viterbi’s flexibility and amazing staff now I know what I love!
