Political Science and Computer Science: A Brief Introduction to my Major and Minor and Why I Chose It
In the past year, I have been pursuing an area of study that I like to describe as the intersection of social science and technological innovation.
When I first came to the University of Texas, I never thought I would venture into a technical field such as Computer Science. If you were to ask 18 year old me what my plans for the future were, I would tell you how I was to study Political Science, gain admission into a highly ranked law school, and eventually climb the corporate law ladder. I was so sure of that path that I never envisioned myself venturing into an interdisciplinary area, participating in research, or learning programming.
After my freshman year, I found myself dissatisfied with my academic and career plans. I felt a lingering void in my academic interests and no concrete sense of purpose. I decided to take a semester to explore other disciplines, and see where my curiosity would eventually lead me.
During a brief dive into philosophy, I ran into the field of logic. In propositional logic, we evaluated statements and their truth-values based on logical operators. From the beginning of the course, I found myself enjoying the quantitative thinking involved. This discipline appeared to me as the perfect intersection between social science and mathematics, and presented me with a challenge that until then was missing from my college disciplines. The following courses I took in logic introduced me to the low level mathematics and theory behind computers. By the time we began to cover Turing machines, undecidability, and the Halting Problem, I was already lost in the beauty behind Computer Science.
At first, my rustiness in math shied me away from pursing a serious study of Computer Science. Up to this point, I was convinced that I was wired for the social sciences and not for any area of STEM. However, my persistent curiosity would not accept that excuse. As a result, I decided to brush up on high school math and to begin learning programming.
Today, I am actively pursuing a major in Government and a minor certificate in Computer Science. I feel especially drawn to the interdisciplinary crossovers of both fields. Under the context of today’s tech-driven world, I find the study of governance and socio-political mobilization around technology endlessly fascinating. My research is aimed at the current landscape of modern tech empires, focusing on how past innovations have shaped societies and the public dimensions of concentrated power over the creation, transmission, and exhibition of information.
Equipped with the technical skills of a Computer Science minor, I hope to better understand how we shape technology and innovation. Simultaneously, with a strong basis in the social sciences through a Political Science major, I hope, in turn, to understand how technology shapes us.
This morning, I encountered a newly published piece on Business Week titled, “The Best Way to Change Your Job? Let Your Personality, Not Your Skills, Guide Your Search.” I could not agree more. Ever since I decided to follow the rabbit hole of my innate curiosities, I have never felt more sure of my purpose in college.
