Ever since the nintendo 64 came out, I have been playing video games. Something about exploring huge new worlds, solving puzzles, going on adventures, and competing against friends has always caught my attention. This fascination with console games led me into computer games. I played years of computer games, Counter Strike, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, etc. However, one day my rundown old macbook failed on me and I was faced with a decision on what computer to buy as a replacement. I was advised countless times by the online community that mac’s were terrible for gaming and I should build my own machine. I was tempted to buy another macbook since I was comfortable with the operating system. However, I wanted to run games with decent graphics settings at 60 frames per second, so I looked into building my own computer. While researching about the different components that make a computer, I became very interested in how everything worked. This new fascination in computers eventually lead me into learning more about computer science.
Starting my first computer science course at the University of Hawaii, I was nervous. I had been told computer science was a very difficult field and many people end up switching majors. However, I discovered that I really enjoyed coding and didn’t mind spending time studying concepts I had a hard time understanding. After taking that one class, I decided to make my major computer science, switching from my original plan to major in finance. Since then I have taken multiple ICS course and have enjoyed each one so far. I even had the privilege of interning at DataHouse Inc, during the summer of 2018. I had no prior web app development experience or knowledge, however the members of the team I was assigned to were extremely helpful in learning the basics. I also learned a lot about the workflow for web development in a professional environment. Interning at DataHouse was an awesome experience, and I now have a newfound interest in web app development. I hope to continue progressing as a programmer as I work toward graduation.