Women in the Sciences

Falling in Love with Computer Science

"I had no clue that I would go into computer science. I love language and am talented in it. Then I took this programming course, and it was so intriguing and so different from anything else I had ever done that it drew me in. When I started taking more classes and realized the wealth of the department, I fell in love with it."
Sara '04

When Sara '04, who prefers to be called "Scout" enrolled in Wellesley, she fully expected that she would continue her studies in French and possibly major in linguistics and cognitive science. But in the process of fulfilling her distribution requirements she encountered the unimaginable: She fell in love with computer science.

"I had no clue that I would go into computer science," she recalls. "I love language and am talented in it. Then I took this programming course, and it was so intriguing and so different from anything else I had ever done that it drew me in. When I started taking more classes and realized the wealth of the department, I fell in love with it."

Sara, who is from Vermont, is happy she stumbled onto computer science. She's also happy that she's stayed with her French as a double major, and she doesn't feel any need to rationalize taking courses from such different disciplines. She relishes the diversity and the very different cultures of the two departments.

"In computer science there is a camaraderie with the professors that comes from them learning some of the new technology at the same time we are. They expect us to treat them as equals, not as superiors, which really inspires us, whereas the French department is more reserved and traditional. It's a lot of fun to compare and contrast the two."

She believes that being able to cultivate her communication and language abilities, while honing her skills in technology will put her in good stead in the marketplace. They also are opportunities she does not believe she would find at every school. "At other schools, the drive is to finish college," she says. "At Wellesley, the drive is to explore passion in all different forms."