Guest Speakers in Computer Science
I got an opportunity to participate in Guest Speakers in Computer Science program as a guest speaker.
The goal is to connect students via Skype with people working in tech to solve one of the biggest talent problems in the world today. By 2020, it is estimated that one million computer science jobs in America will go unfilled because there are not enough students graduating with the right skills.
What is amazing in Computer Science, in my opinion, is the opportunity to build things. It was about 10 years ago when I was in middle school, and I discovered that I can create a website that everybody in the World can see. Another great thing is the opportunity to solve other people's problems.
I love my job, because it gives me different challenges every day. And it is not only about writing the code. Good Software Developer has to be also a good marketing person. He has to understand the market, and the customer needs. He has to know whether an application or feature he is working on is worth his effort, and whether this is what the customer needs.
Today, Computer Science is not a single person coding in the basement. Nowadays, it is all about the people, cooperation and team effort. I love it, because I think that a group of people can always achieve more than a single person.
Computer Science is hard. Sometimes you are spending hours debugging a nasty bug. You are getting more and more frustrated. But finally, once you solved the problem, you feel a lot of satisfaction. Especially because you did it! This is amazing in Computer Science. When you work hard, it always pays you back.
I wanted be a part of Guest Speakers in Computer Science program, because I wanted to share my experience. I know how much it means for a person who want to start a career, to hear from somebody who already did it. I have been there, and I know how much the people who I met helped me to drive my career. I wanted to pay it back somehow.
So far I gave 4 talks, and it was very fun! The most common question was: "Have you met Bill Gates?". This is something I need to work on :) There were also more practical questions like: "what programming languages should I learn?", "how to prepare for College if I want to study Computer Science?", or "how to choose the right things to do out of millions possibilities?".
If you are IT professional I encourage you to join this program as well!