I bid farewell...kind of.

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I bid farewell...kind of.
Nazia
07/13/01 at 01:40:55
Assalamu Alaikum,

Some of you may know me from the Dar-al-Hikmah center as geek club member and active participant.  However, I'm thinking of turning a new leaf, and in doing so, I'd be venturing into a territory I know little about---the colorful world of..... Liberal Arts! :o:o  

Yes, that's right.  I am putting away my keyboard and hard drive, and reaching for that pen and paper.  Well, not quite yet, but hopefully soon, Insha'Allah.  I am graduating in December Insha'Allah with a degree in Computer Science.  I'll be honest--it hasn't been pretty.  I mean, Alhamdulillah I have managed to maintain a decent GPA, but my heart is just not in it.  I feel nothing for computer science.  I *hate* programming.  I'm not good at it, and I don't try very hard to change that.  I don't know when this all started, the first two years were pretty smooth, I actually liked it!  I guess it all started going downhill last year when I took an Algorithms class, Circuits and Numerical Methods all at once (plus three painfully lame electives).  Anyways, to make a long story short, after I graduate, I *hope* Insha'Allah that I *never* have to write another computer program.  

No doubt this leaves me in an odd predicament.  Here I have this degree, worth Insha'Allah a decent amount of money, and then here I have these skills and passions close to nill.  Well I have two options, I could look for a job in the CS family, but not necessarily programming, ie-documentation, tech writing etc.  Or I could put it all behind me and head to grad school.  Ideally I would like to work in my field for a short time so I wouldn't feel like I wasted away my undergrad years, and then go to grad school.  But I just don't know.  Anyways, the reason I am posting this is because there are (atleast) three main things I'm interested in for schooling, and I need help combining all three.  They are as follows:

Islam
Teaching
Journalism

My ideal job would encompass the perfect blend of all of the above.  Teaching Islam at either the High school or college level, while free lancing for an Islamic publication.  I'd like to get my Master's in Islamic Thought/philosophy, but I don't know where I could do that in the US.  I am now thinking along the lines of an M.A in religious thought/history of religion/whatever, but don't know if it will be worth it.  The main University I am looking at is Temple Univ is philly, cos that's more than likely where I will be next year, Insha'Allah.  They have a good program (Khalid Blankenship is the head of their dept--i think), but I guess I'm still a little unsure as to the quality of the education I can receive from a school in the US.  I know the American Open Univ is located in philly as well, but I'm not sure about their program, I'd have to look into it.  Anyways, so if any of you have suggestions, know how I could collaborate my goals, or have info about Universities in this field, I'd love to hear them.  Oh one more thing, I don't think I'd feel comfy just absolutely throwing away my hard earned CS degree, I'd like to think that *some* aspect of it would fit in somewhere...See what you guys can come up with...you're a creative lot. ;)

Take Care,
Wassalam,
Nazia
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
zamzam
07/13/01 at 07:44:35
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[color=Green][slm]  
Hummm..
Computer Science, Liberal Arts!, Islam, Teaching, Journalism.
Wow, masha'Allah.
Well, not everyone in software industry does programming..
No, no you dont necessarly have to do documentation or tech writing.
If you are really creative, an Analyst job is what you can go for. Lot of System analysts are women like you. Men make better designers (system designers i mean not fashion designer :) well, those who really love algorithms 8-) .When u combine CS w/ teaching u get corporate trainers. I guess Muslim countries need them. So, u can come to malaysia or go to pakistan. Well i got no idea how philosophy would suit u when u run away from abstract thinkin' i mean algo class an' all. Maybe u build software for Muslim kids. Wouldnt it be great if kids get computer games which teach them Islam along w/ being fun. I know there r a few but they r hardly a match for standard commercial quality and they all r not pure 'n' good, Islamically i mean.
well just an idea.
[wlm]
[/color][/center]
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
bhaloo
07/13/01 at 09:11:32
slm

I had no idea you were a coputer science major (well the idea sort of crossed my mind when you mentioned the upper division course you took a few days ago on the board).  Boy that's a tough situation that you find yourself in.  Can I ask what made you decide to go into Computer Science in the first place?  Perhaps that might help in figuring out what course of action you should take.

I know another girl in the same situation that you are facing, and she didn't complete her degree, she went for this multimedia one so she could get into graphics designing, but that isn't working out for her too well as she is having a hard time finding a job, so she's thought about going back to school and finishing her CS degree even though she hates programming.

You meantioned Islam, Teaching and Journalism.  Have you thought about being a teacher at an Islamic school?  

p.s.
Yes there are people out there that enjoy programming, I happen to be one of them.  ;)  I'm a computer programmer. :)
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
jannah
07/13/01 at 09:13:15
slm nazia,

there are a million jobs in the IT field that don't require anything with programming. i daresay the majority of people in the CS major end up not doing hard core programming anyway!
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
zanfaz
07/13/01 at 09:26:30
[slm]

[quote]
there are a million jobs in the IT field that don't require anything with programming
[/quote]

exactly, Quality Assurance is one of them. It is an interesting and an upcoming field.



Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
Nazia
07/13/01 at 11:04:04
[quote]Can I ask what made you decide to go into Computer Science in the first place?[/quote]

I had been interested in Computers in the superficial way for a long time. (ie-I had no desire to learn what made them tick)  I loved checking my email, helping my friends solve technical problems (ie-"I can't save my file!" or "it says it can't find my printer!", etc) and various other things computer related.  So one day a friend asked me--"So, are you going into Comptuer Science?"  And, almost automatically, I found myself answering in the affirmative!  And from there it spread.  When news reached my father, he was ecstatic, helping me find universities etc..Even I was excited!  I had *no* idea what I was getting myself into.  I just remembered, whenever anybody would ask me: "So what are you majoring in beta?"  My answer would be proud and bold:  "Computer Science, Uncle", and then I would get that nod of approval, and receive the assurance that I needed.
First year went smooth,  I aced my comp sci classes.  Second year, I slipped a little, got  1 or two B's...Third year (this year) I had had enough, I *hated* everything about it.  I was still getting A's and B's in my classes, but I didn't feel they were indicative of my actual knowledge. *sigh*

So anyways, that's where I find myself now.

So what does Quality Assurance entail?  I have definitely thought about teaching in an Islamic school, I would love to do that--once I felt even somewhat qualified.  Like I was saying, Temple Univ.  has a reputable theology dept. and a pretty intensive Arabic program.  So that would be an option I believe.  

[quote]there are a million jobs in the IT field that don't require anything with programming. [/quote]


What else?! I want ideas!  Please don't say web design, because I have very minimal exposure to html.

Ok well thanks!

Take Care,
Wassalam,
Nazia: Jack of all trades, master of none.
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
bhaloo
07/13/01 at 11:57:18
slm

Oh yes, QA (Quality Assurance Engineers) is one possibility.  What they basically do is develop test plans and test the product before it goes to market and write up bugs that drive all the engineers crazy, cause we have to hurry up and fix them.  I've noticed that they often require a B.S. degree in CS, EE, or ME to be a QA.  I guess it can be interesting, but for me personally it would not be something I would be interested in because I don't have the patience to sit there and run the same tests on a release of a product every time there is a new release.  But that's just me personally, some people are fine with that.

Since you liked helping your friends with their computer problems that sounds to me like you would be a good candidate to be a Network Administrator.  Basically what a Network Administrator does is take care of and maintain the PCs in an office.  They sometimes setup the servers, troubleshoot desktop problems that users are having, install new software, sometimes take care of software licensing issues, upgrade the network.  In addition to my duties as a programmer, I had to maintain the network at my former place of employment.  It was fun helping people with their problems, most of them were really simple and I was surprised that engineers had so little knowledge about computers.  Sometimes people that work as a Network Admin. are referred to as working in the IS (Information Systems) department.  There are classes you can take to get certificates, like the MSCE (Microsoft Certified Engineer).  Then there is a Cisco one so you could be an expert with Cisco equipment.

My programming responsibilities took up most of my time so we had to hire some contractors to take care of our network.  We paid IBM $275 an hour to send some dude out to look after our network.  Most of the people that we brought in on a contract basis didn't have much technical skills and I was disappointed with the quality of work and their knowledge.  A lot of times they would come to me to ask me to help them.

I was thinking, that's actually a pretty good business to have.  Have all these Network guys and send them out to companies for a week, month, year and charge the company $150 to $200 an hour.
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
zamzam
07/15/01 at 05:45:51
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[quote]Nazia: Jack of all trades, master of none.[/quote]
Thats gonna fetch ya a million job, in comp industries :o

[wlm] [/color] [/center]
Re: I bid farewell...kind of.
zanfaz
07/15/01 at 23:33:13
[slm]

[quote]
So what does Quality Assurance entail?  
[/quote]

Yes as br Arshad said, developing test plans and testing applications is one of the job involved. Apart from this, Quality Assurance Engineers are also involved in

*  Monitor whether the project team is adhering to the laid down    processes/procedures

*  Develop/improve/enhance Software Processes (Process Change Management)
 
*  Coming up with Defect Prevention Plan

*  Helping organization get Quality Accredition (SEI CMM, ISO, etc)

[quote]
write up bugs that drive all the engineers crazy, cause we have to hurry up and fix them
[/quote]

lol, they give me sleepless nights too ;)

[wlm]


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