I came to university to do one thing and one thing only; read. English literature was the only subject I was truly interested in studying. My three years as an English and American Literature and Creative Writing student were brilliant, I read everything from Plato to Orwell.
However, when everyone else was deciding which graduate schemes to apply to I was applying to extend my undergraduate degree. The university offer a ‘Year in Computing’ for students either between their second and third year or after their final year. I decided to apply not because I wanted to have the longest degree title ever, but because I was genuinely interested in the systems that we use every day.
A month into the ‘Year in Computing’ has opened my eyes to how hard it is to transfer between such different degree types. Despite this being the most challenging month of my academic career, it is also one of the most enjoyable. Using HTML, CSS and JavaScript to make a coloured box appear on screen is embarrassingly exciting.
The ‘Year in Computing’ is open to nearly all undergraduates, the course requires nothing more than curiosity and commitment. You benefit from learning to code and understanding the hardware and software behind computers. You’ll also change the way that you look at the world around you and open up new opportunities and careers. It’s a difficult course, there’s no denying that, but there are students from all disciplines in my class who prove that anyone is capable.
I still have a considerable amount of learn, and I’ll probably still be explaining what exactly my degree is on my graduation day, but it’s a small price to pay for the invaluable skills you learn.