I know I am in this field I’m in because I am interested in so many different things. I like to write. I like engineering. I like learning new things constantly. I manage to get all of those and then some working in the field I do (plus I’m good at it, which is also nice). So I can be considered another example for you of someone who has the same dilemma and went into programming. I will also say that I am the only person on my team who has a CS degree! One guy has a map/geography degree, one guy has a EE degree, one guy has a Mechanical eng degree. As a field, we tend to be less rigid on training.

I will say that I went to a college that prided itself on ensuring we had a lot of practical application of material as well as theoretical know-how. This is why the CS dept. was its own entity — generally speaking, if the CS dept is part of the Mathematics school, it’s theory-based. If it’s in the Engineering school, it’s application based. And if it’s solo? It’s more likely both. I am a practical-application kind of person, which is ALSO why I had such a horrible time getting through school (and probably why I am a good employee). Can you tell I think about this a lot? We can chat about it sometime if you like. I actually think this is one of those things that all four of us have in common.

BTW, right before I went away to college, Dad told me I wasn’t any good with computers. Yeah, well, so much for that! And I stopped playing videogames (other than say, tetris and stuff like that) when I was in junior high school. So.