I was warned many times about computer science majors. CS majors never leave their room. CS majors don’t shower. CS majors are oddballs. Still determined, I switched majors a week into the semester. I thought that all the talk was just talk and exaggeration. I learned rather quickly. My first day in lab I was introduced to my lab partner.
He is an awesome guy who had a much better grasp on code than I. We immediately set out to complete all of our tasks for lab. Mainly this involved creating a way to analyze data, and then proceed to compute different actions depending on what the data was. All was beyond me at the time, so my lab partner stepped in. Turns out my partner tends to mumble all of his thoughts while he codes. At this point I didn’t think much. Lots of people mumble when they read or are trying to do a lot at once. Plus, he truly was carrying us since at the time I was still a noob. Then he started getting the sniffles.
Once again, not much came to mind. I was trying to divide my attention between what he was doing and my textbook in an attempt to learn as quickly as possible. And at the end of the day, who am I to judge someone who is sick. It feels like colds spread through the dorms like wildfire. In fact, I hadn’t been feeling too well myself that morning. Now though, was the buildup.
Everyone knows when you’re about to sneeze. First is that strange twitch in your nose. The sharp inhale. I look over just in time to see my lab partner turn away and release the loudest “ACHOOO” on campus. Seconds later, the kid who was on the other side of him just groans, “gross.” His hand had been covered in snot. Immediately I felt panic stricken. What had I just stepped into? Was there some large hidden colony of hermits on campus?
Will I be initiated into a weird cult? I sat there and thought about this while my partner continued to hack away at the lab, like nothing had happened. The realization came to me slowly. One does not declare that they are going to be a CS major then turn into one. You are already one. I enjoy tea, crochet, anime, not leaving my room and books. I was already a prime candidate for the position. What I needed to remember, and everyone else, is that stereotypes are generally true. While I might not like to leave my room, plenty of others do. Every individual is still unique, if they are in CS, expect them to be more so.
