Ethan Harrison, BS May 2022
Though not originally planning to declare a major in Computer Science, I was always interested learning more about hardware and software design. During my first semester at Wake Forest, I was able to meet a couple of the professors at the Major/Minor fair and asked to meet afterwards to ask more questions about the major. During those meetings, I spoke with them candidly about my different interests. I was always very grateful for their willingness to speak to me as a first semester freshman. So, it was then, without having any coding experience whatsoever, that I enrolled in my first CS class.
I am proud of making that decision, as I was able to explore the wide variety of courses that were available. One of the benefits of coming to Wake Forest is the smaller class sizes— making it easy to develop meaningful relationships with your teachers and get involved in their research opportunities. There are many CS professors that are eager to collaborate with undergraduates. For example, I was fortunate enough to combine my CS skills with my minor in Philosophy and conduct research with Dr. Turkett on the best ways to combine CS with the field of ethics. We sought to understand how to effectively convey the ethical considerations of CS topics within the curriculum.
In addition, one of my favorite aspects of the CS department was the ability to complete an individual study. After studying CS for a couple of years, I became very passionate about assistive technology and human-computer interaction. When I shared this with my advisor, Dr. Pauca, we immediately decided that we would create our own course together. The application process was so easy, and I will always remember how I was given the freedom and flexibility to study exactly what I wanted to in the way I wanted to.
It is because of my experience with my individual study that I was able to work in accessibility engineering for CVS digital products immediately following my graduation. I am analyzing the CVS Health website and mobile app and designing ways for the user experience of those platforms to be accessible for people with disabilities!