I, by no standards, consider myself to be a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) savvy person. Despite this, I had to take a STEM course here at Swarthmore for multiple reasons. First of all, every Swarthmore student is required to take a minimum of three courses in each of the three divisions of the college by graduation (the divisions being sciences/engineering, social sciences, and humanities/arts). Second of all, each Swarthmore student is required to take at least one lab credit prior to graduation. Finally, I had a personal resolution to step outside of my comfort zone during course selection for my Freshman year fall. The course I chose to try my hand at was CPSC 021: Introduction to Computer Science. Due to the popularity of the class, I was unable to take it during my first semester, but got into it for the Spring semester, and, to my surprise, it has become one of my favorite classes. 

Initially, I was quite intimidated by the course, but my concerns were quickly eased once I realized how many people around me were taking the course not because they wanted to major in computer science but for similar reasons to mine. They eased us into the content, with the first weekly lab being to write a simple bio about yourself, the second being to write a program with just a few simple commands, and so on. By the sixth week, we were drawing graphics with our programs, and by the eighth, we were reverse engineering a game similar to the Spelling Bee game from the New York Times. 

Over the past few weeks, I have found that computer science actually comes more naturally to me than I had ever thought it would. Despite this, I have certainly had moments in the course where I have struggled, but there was no shortage of support when I became frustrated with the content. Not only do the professors offer office hours, but students are permitted to attend the office hours of any of the professors, even if they don’t teach your section of the course. Additionally, every Thursday and Friday night, there are “ninja sessions” (ninja being the nickname for the computer science student tutors), for help in labs or studying for quizzes. 

Despite my previous doubts, my time in this course has been far more pleasant than I had anticipated. I would advise any incoming first-year students to try your hand at something you don’t think you’ll be good at. There is plenty of help in place in all of the departments, from individual tutoring to office hours and student tutors/helpers (ninjas for computer science, catalysts for biology, alchemists for chemistry, writing associates for any course that requires writing, and many more!). You might just find a new passion!