Why I Got My Masters Degree in Computer Science
I remember when I first told my team lead about possibly going back to school. He simply replied, “You don’t need it.” and moved on.
I then remember talking to People Services at my company about what it would look like to get my degree part-time while working. They agreed to discuss it, but they didn’t think I would actually follow through on anything. “Let us know when you get into a program. We can talk about it further then.”
When I did get accepted into a program, my manager gave me a baffled look. He was confused. “You really are going to go for this thing, aren’t you?” he said.
Eventually, all of these people came to support me. However, they all had the same question many people have when I tell them I went back to school for a master’s degree.
Why would you do that?
I’ve answered this question a handful of different ways over the years. But I’ve never given a very comprehensive one. This article is meant to be that answer. I’ll summarize my motivations, my situation, and why I ultimately went back to get my degree.
To answer this, though, I need to get a running start. I can’t just start at two and a half years when I started school. I have to start with how I came to love software in the first place.
