Husna Siddiqui came to the College to pursue her dream of becoming a pediatrician. Then, her adviser suggested that she take a computer-programming course. Though she was new to computer science, the subject matter gradually grew on her. By the end of that semester, there was no question what her major would be.
"At first, I struggled in that course. I was a freshman and it was all pretty new. But then, I realized that you actually create things from scratch as a programmer. It takes a while, but eventually you create something on your own, something that actually works. That's an amazing feeling. As soon as the course ended, I went to the registrar and declared as a computer science major."
In a database course, Husna found herself engaged in a fulfilling project – building an entire database on her own. "I developed a database of restaurants close to campus, including names, phone numbers, websites, hours of operation, street addresses, whether or not they accept the College's dining cards, etc. I had to set it up so that you could sort for different information. We worked on these projects all semester long in a very independent fashion."
That experience was pivotal when she applied for an internship at local software giant Blackbaud. "When I interviewed with the company, they were impressed with the knowledge I had regarding databases. It really set me apart from other candidates."
Husna helped that company move some of its products from a server-based system to the cloud. "I came back to school with a lot more confidence because I had actually been programming in a real-world setting. That definitely accelerates your learning in the classroom."
What will Husna do with a degree in computer science? "I'm not sure," she says. "But that's the thing about this major – the possibilities are endless. The world relies on technology and software, and having these skills is going to open doors for me, whatever doors those might be."