Computer science is a field that envelops many different specializations and topics.
Throughout my university career in computer science, I have covered C++ algorithmic design, web design, network security, operating systems, discrete math, cyber forensics and so much more. A heavy price is to be paid for covering so much material in such a short amount of time, most if not all of which are amplified by the struggles already faced by being a college student!
1. Sleep is no longer an option.
As a computer science major, it is culturally accepted that you will be up past the hours of midnight on an almost regular basis working on assignments, whether that be fixing bugs in your programming or trying to figure out what you're even doing.
There are plenty of nights that I have been awake at 3:00 AM in our university computing lab, and almost half the major is in the same room working and talking with one another. It's a very strange occurrence walking into a building at the crack of dawn only to see that people are still working from the night before. It's almost surreal that it's a regular thing.
2. You will become frustrated.
The great thing about programming is that things work and don't work for absolutely no comprehensible reason! Imagine banging your head against the wall trying to figure out some complex problem and once you write in a solution and run your program, nothing happens.
You are met with an error message and trace back through your code, perhaps you can't decipher what the issue is so you run it again and it works. This is not uncommon at all, it's like losing a sock in the dryer, no one knows what happens.
3. Everyone expects you to fix their computer.
There is not a day that goes by where someone doesn't ask me why their computer is doing this or that and how to fix it. This isn't really too terrible as it is basically job training for the future but when you aren't sure why their computer is acting a certain way there is a terrible stigma that you 'clearly' don't know what you're doing.
If I ever admit to not having adequate experience with a certain software, email platform, website, or anything of the sort then people who are asking for help generally assume that you are lazy and trying to get out of helping or that you haven't been studying your class work and learning enough.
4. You never know what you're doing.
One fantastic side of programming is that you are solving a problem to which has no answer yet! Because of this, every step you take is confusing as there is no indication whether you're progressing or backtracking.
I have spent countless hours starting at my screen and trying to decipher what I'm even doing. The worst problem is when you fall asleep and lose that thought you had of, "Hm, I know how to fix this so I will work on it when I wake up." As soon as you wake up, however, that five-hour train of thought you've had grinding away is gone.
5. You will become a geek.
People major in computer science for thousands of different reasons, many of whom don't align with typical geek culture.
News flash, they will! No matter what your lifestyle is before you begin your computer science major, it will change for sure. You will spend way more time on the computer, math jokes will make you laugh out loud, and your interests will start shifting into the latest technology and cool logic tricks to shorten algorithms.
While all of these issues can make computer science sound like a nightmare, there are some special nuances that we hold in which no other major can connect over. It does suck to not sleep, but when you're with a group of people all struggling with you there are fun times to be had. Ordering pizza and cookies, watching horror movies, and playing video games with the entire lab are just a few things that happen at 3:00 AM.
Computer science forces you to bond with other people over your pathway to intellectual growth, it's a discipline that strives on cooperation. If you are considering computer science as a major, then you are going to have a lot of fun memories for years to come, as well as new groups of friends waiting to be discovered!
