Why I Chose MATC

Hello, and welcome! My name is Tamaralynn Nacker, or preferably, Tamra. I am an MATC student enrolling for Systems Analysis and Mobile Applications Development. What drew me to programming was my helpful nature. Development requires cooperation and coordination, and consideration for a program's future users.

I always had a general fascination with computers, video and mobile games, and most other technologies. When I was younger, I always wondered what made the Windows 98 computer and NES at my grandparent's house tick. How did it run my games? How did the screen display colors? How did the speakers play sounds? I found where all the files were housed on the computer, and wanted to know how they worked. The most I could do was open them in Notepad, and I thought that jumbled mess of characters was how computers were coded! I wasted hours trying to "decipher" them.

It wasn't until high school that I got my first taste of what programming actually is. My first class showed how to make windowed applications using Visual Basic, and the second used C++ for console applications. And I loved every second of it! Especially the C++ class, it matched my stereotypical "understanding" of what programming was at the time. Coding interested me so greatly, that I also did all of the extra credit. My highest grade was 108%!

From that point, I was sure that was what I wanted to do after high school. Before then, I had no idea what I would even do, or even if I would attend college at all. I mean, I did always want to program, but I always thought of it as absurd. "It's not as glorious and fascinating as you think it will be," I assumed, "and it will ruin games for you." I at least promised myself I wouldn't pursue gaming and simulation. At least, not formally. Funnily enough, though, most of my larger projects I've made in classes so far have been games.

Sure this was how I wanted to go forward, I became the first person in my family to pursue higher education. Proudly, my two younger sisters are also following suit for different careers. I mainly chose to because I wanted a career, one that I would be happy working in. The reasons why I pursued this interest at MATC specifically were as such:

1. Cost was a major factor. Coming from a low-income family, I didn't want to burden them nor myself with student debt and loans. Fortunately, I have not accrued much yet!
2. Campus locations were important. Given that I have only specific days and times to go to classes, having several nearby locations makes it easier to find classes I can take.
3. The student environment made it feel more like I belong here. There are people of make ages, skill levels, races, and interests. Other colleges I considered had many older and working students.
4. There was a great variety of options in programs to choose from. I was unaware of how many kinds of programming-related IT fields there were, and how they were subdivided. They were also clearly differentiated, so I was able to choose the right program for me.

The idea of being a "lifelong student" and always learning new things is appealing to me. And I'd love to learn those new things from new and different people! Hopefully, I can put my anxiety aside and get out there!