I am currently a first year student attending City Tech and I plan to study in the field of computer science, specifically in cyber security. I believe that this is the best career  for me because of how it’s so diverse. Diversity leads to experiments and experiments lead to thinking and logic. I enjoy constantly expanding my mind and going from something rudimentary to intricate and complex. In this essay I will exhibit how these three reasons can be unified together into harmony.

In order to obtain a job in cyber security I must first get an associates and bachelors in computer science as a threshold to specialize in cyber security. As in computer science it means the language of program and it relates to our melting pot of languages. Since the associates is just the beginning, I will learn from a wide variety it must be general because in order to protect a system you must know the system. As to how I can utilize my college to achieve my degree and job standing I hope to learn from the professionals and earn the job I desire.

The first reason why I believe this is the best major for me is because of it’s diversity. In an interview with Professor Tony Holley I asked him “What do you think is the most important quality a prospective student needs for this career field?” and he responded with “An interest in science  and a strong curiosity.”. A constant curiosity is something I have and researching different methods is something that entices me. According to “An Evaluation Framework and Comparative Analysis of the Widely Used First Programming Languages” there is a chart made that shows the some of the major languages taught starting from 1994 to 2011. They stated 9 of the most known languages, Ada, C, C++, C#, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, and Python. Each of these codes do something different and all require a decent amount of practice and studying to master it. In 1994  6 out of 9 languages were taught but it began to decrease. In 2014 Ada and C# was neglected and only 1% for both were being taught. This reinforces selfstudy but some languages are either not taught or rarely taught. I was never fond of always just studying one topic or one thing. A habit I maintain that will I hope to continue is studying something general. Something that will continue to grow and continuously amaze me and make me ask myself questions as to “How do does this work?” or “How can I apply this to another subject?”. Each computer science language has it’s own function. An example would be Javascript, it is used to created websites and make them respond to the user. It’s very intriguing that we can make something that’s not living but rather a piece of technology respond to us with different codes and programs. Diversity is something that is rare in a major, it gives me to pleasure to know that I will always have to continue to expand my mind and be open to new ideas compared to knowing one thing and never changing that view. It’s amusing how computer science can turn something factual into something that’s factual into something that’s experimental because of diversity. These symbols displayed are some of the crucial things that one needs to code with and constant experimentation will help perfect my ability to know when to use and either or not it is wrong.

My second reason for why I believe this major suits me best is because of how experimental and flexible this career is. I like to solve problems and I learn better when I can apply the lessons myself. To experiment is to learn and to learn is to understand. I believe in order to love something you must understand it. In a way computer science is a relationship. You must know it’s advantages, disadvantages, and have your problems but be able to find solutions as well. To see things in a different light and being able to constantly destroy codes and remake them into something better is something that comes rare with other careers. Some have a set of rules you must follow or your formula is wrong while other careers only have one way of doing something. An example can be taken from “On Language Equations with One-sided Concatenation” as they state “For a fixed finite alphabet Σ, we consider systems of equations of the following general form: ψ1(X1, . . . , Xn) = ξ1(X1, . . . , Xn).” These are basically substitute for unknown numbers as stated above. Just like our  modern day math there is also math in computer science, just not the same way it’s applied. There is always a constant and a way to formulate a code or program. The image below is command prompt which some of you may know. We use this to verify certain things such as, finding out our ping (internet speed) and you can also abort commands with ctrl+c. By typing in “ping google.com” it will list out the speed and the average speed your internet goes at.

 

Third reason is basically, logic. If a brain does something constantly you remember it and it can become a second function. Expanding my mind is the most one of the most important things to a person for them to continuously grow. I do not want a job where I can’t excel because I no longer have any material to study from. I want to think and further improve myself. That is another thing NYCCT will help me in and my major as well. In NYCTT’s 2014-2015 catalog they say “The AAS in CIS prepares students for entry level jobs.”. As it states in the catalog an associates can only help me in getting a position that’s entry level but when I get in preparation for my bachelors and future I believe NYCCT will aid my attitude and tenacity. I hope to utilize the resources from my college and get an idea of how my future will be and prepare for it while I can because I know this major is not easy. In reasoning and logic there is always an opposing side so I must achieve an idea of how I can forge something with two different ideas that will work in unity. That may take me years but it’s a challenge and I would feel accomplished if I did manage to understand a theory and piece it together. The image below is a website called CodeAcademy where they teach you different coding languages and ask you to do task such as using what you learned in the lessons to get a certain outcome.

Computer science is another world for some people, it can feel like an escape from reality. I see it as a way to relieve stress because you are able to change things unlike in real life where if you cannot always have control over the situation. When I interviewed Professor Tony Holley I asked him, ”s being in the CST career field exciting?” and Professor Holley said “It certainly is! Especially in the area in which I specialize – web design. Constantly, new products and expansion of old products are being introduced that need to be shared with students.”. Further analyzing what controls the future of our technology is something I would like to do. As computer engineers make the technology the coders make the programs that bring the computer to life. In order to accomplish such a task I will seek the aid of those in NYCCT as a mentor for the things I cannot understand for the things that they have learned throughout their own experiences. It will serve as a memento to look back on. As computer science is a combination of many things the most important is grasping the concepts from my professors and learning persistence and dedication.

Citation

In an email interview with Professor Tony Holley, he says, ‘’”An interest in science  and a strong curiosity” (Holley Par.3).

In an article “On Language Equations and One-Sided Concatenation” Franz Baader and Alexander Okhotin says, “For a fixed finite alphabet Σ, we consider systems of equations of the following general form: ψ1(X1, . . . , Xn) = ξ1(X1, . . . , Xn).” (Baader and Okhotin Par.4).

New York City College of Technology (City Tech).College Catalog 2014-2015. 2014. PDF. 12 Nov 2014.

In an email interview with Professor Tony Holley, he says, “It certainly is! Especially in the area in which I specialize – web design. Constantly, new products and expansion of old products are being introduced that need to be shared with students.” (Holley Par.6).

Works Cited

Farooq MS, Khan SA, Ahmad F, Islam S, Abid A (2014) An Evaluation Framework and Comparative Analysis of the Widely Used First Programming
Languages. PLoS ONE 9(2): e88941. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088941

Baader, Franz., and Okohotin, Alexander. “On Language Equations and One-Sided Concatenation.” Fundamenta Informaticae 126 (2013): 1-35. IOS Press. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech).College Catalog 2014-2015. 2014. PDF. 12 Nov 2014.

Holley, Tony. Personal interview. 5 Dec. 2014.

Su, Janie “Symbols” Flickr. 6 December 2014. 8 December 2014

Su, Janie “CodeAcademy” Flickr. 6 December 2014. 8 December 2014

Su, Janie “Command Prompt” Flickr. 6 December 2014. 8 December 2014