CSE Major by Alberto Guerrero

My Influences: Dad

guerr139 — 2025-03-22 21:31:45 UTC

Many people have had a major influence on me, my goals, my values, and more. No one has had a bigger influence on me than my dad. My dad was the only person in my close family with a college education and valued education tremendously. Growing up he passed those values to my siblings and me. He taught me the importance of education, to do my absolute best, and to always keep climbing to greater heights. These values that I learned at such a young age carved my path for the future, a future in education where I would try my absolute best. He also taught me to be responsible, respectful, and disciplined, these lessons sculpted my personality into what it is today. Most importantly, he has always shown his utmost support for whichever path I choose to take. This has given me the confidence to go out and pursue an education in Computer Science.

My Influences: Sisters

guerr139 — 2025-03-22 21:45:56 UTC

After my dad, the people who have had the most influence on me, are my two older sisters. My sisters are both quite a bit older than me, one being five years older than me and the other nine years older. But because they are so much older than me, I have always had footsteps left for me to follow. Both of my sisters were very smart and well-behaved kids growing up, and I always heard their praises, so naturally they became my role models and some of the people that I look up to the most. From being a kid to a young adult I always chased their achievements and successes, in hopes that I would be just like them, this also instilled a competitive nature in me to not only reach them but to surpass them. Of course, being so much older than me, the challenge was almost impossible but it always left me with a goal to chase the next day.

My Personality: Green

guerr139 — 2025-03-22 22:25:07 UTC

When viewing a chart that assigned different personalities to different colors, and gave characteristics for those personalities. While I found myself relating to many traits shared by other personalities, I found myself resonating most with the green and gold sections. The green section is someone with a personality greatly driven by logic, after self-reflecting I realized I fit in this category. Growing up I've always liked to challenge myself with logic-based problems, and finding solutions, whether it was a game of chess with my dad, a puzzle, or a hard math problem, I've always enjoyed solving problems. A big hint that I fit this category best is thinking back to when I started making choices to decide my future. I almost always tried to think which path was the most logical, never really following my emotions. After coming to this realization it was clear that I fit this color more than a lot of the others

My Personality: Gold

guerr139 — 2025-03-22 22:40:02 UTC

The other color that really resonated with me was Gold. Gold is described as someone who values rules, organisation, and loyalty. After some more reflecting I discovered that many of these values are values that I learned from my dad and are now values that I also hold close. My dad has always taught me to follow the rules, whether they were from him, a teacher, or anyone with authority over me, and I never really wanted to find out how mad he would get If I didn't so I always did my best to be as respectful, and obedient as I could. Now that I'm older I realize that it's just the right thing to do, and I've tried to follow the rules so long that It's just become a part of me. People with gold-type personalities also tend to do their best when they feel prepared and organized, and I definitely fit these traits. I hate going into something unexpected, and unprepared, as I get riddled with anxiety. Going into everything with a sense of order is a must for me.

Why Computer Science:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 00:03:40 UTC

Once I got to senior year I realized that I had no idea what I wanted to study in college, so I began to reflect on myself. I came to a lot of the same conclusions I did while reflecting on myself for this project. I wanted to go into something that I found interesting, could enjoy, and would make good money. After some reflection, I knew that I had always found it fun to solve problems, I knew that solving problems meant it was a way I could help others, and helping others always makes you feel better. I knew I liked math, and the choice became pretty clear, I was going to choose a field in engineering. Like most boys, I've always liked playing video games, so I thought why not try to become the person who helps make those games, I narrowed my choice to Computer Science, to pursue a career in game development, and hopefully one day create my own game.

Interview Audio

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 01:27:17 UTC

Interviewee: Alberto Guerrero

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 02:08:00 UTC

While thinking about my major in preparation for this project, I realized that if I wanted to start my own game and create my own development team one day I would also need to know a little about business and starting a business. So I chose to Interview my dad Alberto Guerrero who has a degree in Commercial Relations and owns his own business Mango Healthy Fruit and Food. This section will go over some of the key takeaways I got from the interview that I believe will help me better understand the path to my dream career.

Importance of Communication(a):

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 05:56:11 UTC

When asked about how communication has changed from Alberto's current job compared to jobs Alberto had early in his career he went over how technology impacted communication, one thing that caught my attention is when he said how, “back in the day, It was hard to communicate”(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [3:31-3:40]). This made me think about how much easier it is to communicate now with all the technology we have as compared to early in Alberto's career when all they had was letters and wall phones. The only thing this shows is how important having good communication skills is because even now where communication has never been easier many employees lack communication skills, and many employers are desperately trying to find employees with those skills.

Insight into being a Business Owner:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 06:38:20 UTC

Thinking back to my type of personality, one thing I don't like is going into things unprepared which is why as I went through the interview, I was hoping to gain some key information about what it's like being a business owner and some helpful information that could help me on my journey. Alberto was able to give me just that through his responses.

"When you send a phone call, the information can be lost." :

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 06:45:59 UTC

I asked Alberto about some of the differences between written and spoken work. He spoke about how he uses different forms of communication for different scenarios but one thing he highlighted was that "When you send a phone call, the information can be lost"(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [4:38-4:48]). I thought this was very smart, as he was saying that sometimes people can forget about deals and promises made, by communicating primarily through emails he is always able to access proof of what was agreed upon.

"Do you believe you could have started a business in a different field." :

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 06:58:38 UTC

I asked Alberto this question because I wanted to know if the reason for success behind his business was perhaps a prior background in the food industry or if it was because he had a solid understanding of the fundamentals of business. "I started a Restaurant, but we could have started another business because the essentials of business are the same"(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [19:52-20:29]). This was a great response because it showed me that his success wasn't just a fluke, but was because of the valuable knowledge acquired from his degree in a business field. This further pushes me in the direction of not only taking business as a minor but maybe even as a dual Major.

"Do you believe a minor in business is enough to start your own?" :

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 07:07:04 UTC

My dream career is to start my own development team and create video games, to achieve this career I will need sufficient knowledge in the business field to be able to start my own. Many fields however don't require degrees, sometimes an online certificate is enough, or a minor, others you need a much longer education. I asked this question to gain better insight into what will be required to chase my dream career. Alberto responded that while he would always recommend going to college and acquiring a major in business to be more complete, he does believe a minor would be sufficient(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [20:54-21:47]).

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Danbury Innovation Center: How to Prepare

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 18:30:43 UTC

While conducting my interview I wanted to learn more about how to prepare to pursue a path in Computer Science and start my own business. I got a lot of valuable information but who better to look at for advice than Mike who has a degree in Computer Science and has had multiple successful start-ups. Mike talks about his path through school and how while he was a Computer Science major he took a variety of classes in different fields and he recommends everyone to do the same(Co-Founder and Executive Director, Danbury Innovation Center, How to Prepare,[1:12-1:21]). "Accountings a must for anyone that's going to be an entrepreneur"(Co-Founder and Executive Director, Danbury Innovation Center, How to Prepare,[0:28-0:32]). This was some great advice not only for me but for anyone interested in pursuing a career as an entrepreneur.

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Danbury Innovation Center: Loves and Challenges

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 18:38:46 UTC

Mike talks about his journey, from graduating with a computer science degree to working at a software developer company to starting a variety of businesses all in a variety of different fields(Co-Founder and Executive Director, Danbury Innovation Center, Loves and Challenges,[0:07-0:50]). This gives me motivation because it is very similar to what I want to do, and if he could do it with a computer science degree and some basic business courses then I believe I could do the same.

Product Manager, MongoDB: Finding Success

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 19:34:29 UTC

Drew is a product manager for MonoDB a database software. He explains what would make an unsuccessful product manager and it caught my eye that a lot of the characteristics of an unsuccessful product manager stemmed from a lack of communication skills. He describes that unsuccessful product managers don't listen to customers, don't talk to coworkers, and don't listen(Product Manager, MongoDB, Finding Success, [0:21-0:52]). Very similar to what Alberto explained in his interview about how "communication is the base for anything you do"(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [1:32-1:37]).

Career Paths:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 19:50:14 UTC

Computer Science is a broad field, but this allows for many different opportunities when it comes to your career. Including a career in:

Programming

System development

Intranet

Database Administration

Internet

Education

and Technical Support.

“What can I do with this major?”

https://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/computer-science/

Self-Employment?:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 19:59:17 UTC

While going through the different career paths and employers for Computer scientists, one of the employers that caught my eye was being self-employed under the Internet career path. I found this very interesting because I had never thought that maybe instead of creating your own business, you could just leverage your skills to other businesses, maybe for updating programs, or cyber security. It almost feels like being a part of a trade job rather than a traditional 9 to 5 job.

"What can I do with this Major"

https://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/computer-science/

Strategy and Preparation:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 20:09:30 UTC

Some strategies found under the "What can I do with this major" website really caught my eye. Mainly because they were strategies I was already beginning to learn from other sources like my interview, and the candid Career videos. Others caught my eye because I just hadn't thought about them yet. Under strategies for system development and programming some of the strategies listed were taking courses in finance, business, and accounting, which I was already planning for from talking to Alberto, other strategies were having strong communication skills and learning how to work in teams which also requires strong communication. I felt reassured in finding this information because it just further confirmed what I already believed. Some strategies I had not considered were earning the Certified Computing Professional designation by completing a series of exams and experiential requirements. I'm sure that having this would set me apart from the rest and help me acquire jobs faster and easier.

"What can I do with this major"

https://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/computer-science/

Software Developers:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 20:21:45 UTC

The career I plan to go into after graduation is as a Software developer which is a subset of Computer Science. "Software developers create the computer applications that allow users to do specific tasks and the underlying systems that run the devices or control networks. Software quality assurance analysts and testers design and execute software tests to identify problems and learn how the software works."

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. What They Do.

(https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm#tab-2).

Pay:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 20:28:08 UTC

The median pay for a Software Developer in May of 2023 was $132,270. The lower 10% earned less than $77,020 while the highest 10% earned more than $208,620. This annual wage is much greater than the median annual wage of all workers in the same year which was $48,060.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm#tab-1

Job Outlook:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 20:31:24 UTC

"Overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 17 percent from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations."

"140,100 openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are projected each year, on average, over the decade."

These statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are great news for me and anyone interested in this career as we will have more job opportunities and an easier path to employment.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job Outlook.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm#tab-6

Spartasoft:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 21:01:37 UTC

While I chose Computer Science to pursue a career in video game development, I don't have extensive experience in programming, especially for a video game. This is why as I researched for this project I was looking for clubs that would allow me to not only gain experience in this field but also to build connections with other like-minded individuals. This club not only helps members learn about different stages of web development but also hosts different types of social events to increase exposure to game design and development and people who are already in those fields(https://msu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/spartasoft). This can also help build those important communication skills we discussed in the interview with Alberto.

Association for Computing Machinery:

guerr139 — 2025-03-23 21:23:28 UTC

This club provides great opportunities to anyone whether they know a ton about programming or are completely new, this is great news for me since before this year I had zero programming knowledge. They offer help for a better understanding of Computer Science and programming. Not only that but this club provides the opportunity to network with big employers like Google, Microsoft, Ford, and more(https://msu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/acm).

Insight into being a Business Owner(Q1):

guerr139 — 2025-03-26 19:10:17 UTC

One question that I asked was about the differences between reading and writing as an employee compared to a business owner. I asked this to get a better understanding of how the business owner operates, to my surprise Alberto spoke about how they are quite similar. He explains how a lot of the work he did at previous jobs, he still does, the only difference he could find is that as an employee there was much more pressure as your mistake could cause an entire plant to stop functioning(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [8:46-10:45]). From this, I understood that as a Business owner, you have more freedom and a sense of being in control as expected being the owner. This stood out to me as it reminds me of the gold personality we discussed earlier.

Insight into being a Business Owner(Q2):

guerr139 — 2025-03-26 19:11:38 UTC

Another key piece of information I was able to gather came from Albertos response to my question about the types of questions he asks and addresses at work. He spoke about how he asks his employees what is needed for the business, and how his employees ask him how to complete their given tasks, like making different food items(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [11:09-12:12]). From this, I concluded that to start a business I will need to have an in-depth understanding of not only programming, and development but also every other aspect of business to be able to give employees the guidance they need. This helped me realize that I should not start my own business until I have quite a bit of experience working in the field and have gained sufficient knowledge to know the ins and outs of starting a business..

Importance of Communication(b)

guerr139 — 2025-03-26 19:14:19 UTC

Alberto also highlights the importance of communication when he says, “Communication is the base for anything you do”(Guerrero, Alberto. March 9, 2025. [1:32-1:37]). When looking at fields during my search for my major, a common theme was the importance of communication whether it be in a career like engineering or like Alberto a business career.

Interesting Career Path:

guerr139 — 2025-03-26 19:17:06 UTC

The career that interests me the most is a career in programming and/or system development because almost every industry needs these types of workers. Working in this career will also help me gain experience in order to one day start my own business based on programming, and system development.

“What can I do with this major?”

https://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/computer-science/

Internet Society:

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 04:55:21 UTC

One of the professional organizations I found that I found interesting in the "What can I do with this major" was the Internet Society. A professional organization focused on helping spread access the internet globally, and on keeping the internet an open, secure, trustworthy resource(https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/).

"What can I do with this major"

https://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/computer-science/

Adam Grant Ted Talk (a):

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 05:36:00 UTC

A TED talk by Adom Grant called "Are you a Giver or a Taker" really caught my attention while researching for this project. Adam talks about what he describes as givers, matchers, and takers in the workplace. Where a giver is someone who helps others, a matcher is someone who is more of an "eye for an eye" type of person, and a taker is someone who only cares about what others can do for them(Grant, [0:16-1:53]).

https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_grant_are_you_a_giver_or_a_taker/transcript

Adam Grant Talk (b):

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 05:39:38 UTC

This really topic caught my attention because throughout the project as I mentioned before I learned about the importance of teamwork in Computer Science and the importance of communication for your team to be successful. This topic adds another element to the key to success in teams and the workplace which is values. How do people with different values affect their coworkers and their business as a whole?

https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_grant_are_you_a_giver_or_a_taker/transcript

Adam Grant (c):

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 05:55:45 UTC

Adam answers this question by discussing various studies. When checking the effects of being a giver they found that givers not only are the worst performers but the best performers at their job, matchers are somewhere in the middle, and takers usually tank after meeting a matcher, they also found that givers contribute the most to an organizations success(2:10-4:58).

https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_grant_are_you_a_giver_or_a_taker/transcript

Adam Grant Talk(d)

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 05:56:22 UTC

Although givers are great, all it takes is one taker to burn out a giver and bring down everyone with them, meanwhile, a matcher will simply match a giver's attitude[7:55-8:07]. I thought these results were very interesting as they show me to always try to be a giver but more essentially to make sure I don't find a job at a place full of takers because no amount of communication skills will make up for someone with a taker mentality.

https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_grant_are_you_a_giver_or_a_taker/transcript

List:

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 06:13:06 UTC

Interview
a. Communication skills are essential tools that will help you suceed in the workplace and anywhere else.

b. A minor in business is a very real possibility for me as it would allow me to create my own business one day.
Candid Career Videos
a. Taking a wide variety of classes in college is beneficial for anyone, but also specifically for me because I am also interested in business.
Adam Grant
a. Givers offer great contributions to their own personal success and that of the companies they work for.

b. All it takes is one taker to ruin a work environment.
"What can I do with this major"
a. Confirmed my belief that Software development is a growing field that pays above average.

b. Earning a Certified Computing Professional designation can help make a candidate stand apart and give them an easier time finding jobs.

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 06:40:51 UTC

guerr139 — 2025-03-31 07:59:28 UTC