Biology to Tech! Is it right for you?

How do I know I want to be a doctor? — I hate to admit it, but this was a frequent search in my phone’s history as I went from one class to another. I kept revisiting the same Google searches as I entered my next difficult class, unsure of what to do with my life. Somewhere deep down I knew this was not a career I could complete, and it was a heavy feeling I carried each semester. In the last semester of my undergraduate degree, I realized that it made no sense for me to become a doctor. I was a 23-year-old father, with more responsibilities than I could count. I knew that the medical pathway was difficult, not financially rewarding for many more years, and incredibly sacrificial on my part. Unfortunately, I realized too late that this was no longer my path; I now had a biology degree, in a workforce overly saturated with them. I researched everything from a master's degree to technical schools in ways to get out of this premed pathway.

This is where computer science comes in. I had taken some CS courses in undergrad and had even thought about completing my degree in this but had talked myself out of it. I wanted to make a fast correction and didn’t want to go through another four years of school, so I end up finding Oregon State University and their flexible post bacc. I wanted to write this article in the hopes of helping anyone who is in a similar position as I was. Helping others understand if a tech career is right for them.

OSU: First Semester Completed (Summer 2022)

CS161 — Computer Science I

• This course is an introduction to Python that allows you to understand the basics of the language and begin to write programs on your own.

• First couple weeks you cover the basics (arithmetics, variables, conditionals, etc.) Next, you cover functions, recursion, iteration, tuples, dictionaries, and finally end with object-oriented programming.

• The course load stays the same throughout the semester with a module covering the material and 2–3 assignments plus a quiz to make sure you understand the material. There was no midterm or final for this course.

• Tips: Please complete your own work! You will gain nothing by cheating your way through this first course. Take your time at the beginning of every week to really understand the content and ask the TA’s if you have any questions!

CS225 — Discrete Structures in Computer Science

• This is a difficult course! I don’t care what others say this course will make you earn your grade!

• The first couple of weeks until about week 6 of the semester is intensive and mathematically heavy. You need to stay ahead of your coursework or fall behind and fail! This is not a course you can finish the assignments last minute. Now just because it’s difficult does not mean it’s impossible.

• This course covers material from logic, sequences and summations, set and set operations, methods of proof (ugh these sucked), recursive definitions, combinatorics, and graph theory.

• When I completed this course it had no midterm but one proctored final. Every week you complete homework assignments from the book (these are time-consuming!). Every two weeks you complete a discussion-style assignment in which you choose two questions from a list of them to answer and provide proof for. Once everyone has uploaded their work you choose two individuals who will review their work and make suggestions and corrections to their work. To get full points you must go back after suggestions and make corrections to your work and submit a final copy of your work to be reviewed and graded.

• Tips: Complete the book reading and examples early in the week so you have enough time to learn the material! Youtube will be an amazing resource! There are plenty of channels that can help you learn the material if the book is not enough.

Learning is not just done in a classroom. Remember we live in an age that is opened to us through the great World Wide Web! Take advantage of it!