Imagine that you knew someone who was going to graduate with their Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree in the spring of 2018 (*waves*). Now imagine you could help choose which Computer Science elective courses they chose (*waves and jumps*). What courses would you choose?

This fall I need to choose 2 Computer Science elective courses to complete my degree. I looked through the Regis University course catalog and found 18 electives that I could choose from. I was pretty excited at my choices. Since I only need 2 courses, I decided to narrow my choices down to 4 courses. I new there were likely going to be unavailable courses as well as changes to the Regis University course catalog. I chose:

Object-Oriented Programming using C++

Mobile and Enterprise Programming

Web and Database Programming

Enterprise Software Development

Then I emailed my advisor to see what was available. Reality and availability are cruel things. None of the courses I chose are available this fall. My options this fall are…

Computer Systems Security OR Database Management

THEN

UNIX Operating Systems OR Artificial Intelligence

Let’s take a look at how I feel about these courses to see if I can make up my mind…

Computer Systems Security

Everyone would like a security-minded entry-level developer, right? Having a background in the military and law enforcement I’m all for making sure the applications I create are secure. However that’s where my interest ends. I want to be a software developer, not an IT technician.

Database Management

I feel like I still remember much of what I learned about databases when I went to Westwood College. I like looking at the design of databases. This course would honestly be easier for me than the Computer Security course and I feel like I would get more out of it. OK, I convinced me. I’m signing up for this course.

UNIX Operating Systems

I have taught myself how to use UNIX at least 4 times in the past 15 years. I even used Ubuntu as my primary operating system for a while before my appetite for games and college courses convinced me to move back into the Windows universe so this would be a fairly easy course for me. This course is taught by the same instructor who taught one of my first CS courses at Regis so it would be nice to have my last CS course with her. However I think the best way to learn UNIX is the same way to learn any OS and that is by just using it consistently.

Artificial Intelligence

If you’ve paid attention at all to technology news in the past 5 years, artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the premier buzzwords being used. AI and machine learning are credited for systems like Alexa and Siri and chatbots and, of course, the imminent takeover of the world by robots. Do I want to be one of the people who is ultimately responsible for the rise of our robot overlords? Well when I put it like that, how can i say “no”? Seriously though, it sounds more challenging, and fun, than a UNIX course and the applications for AI are fun and constantly growing.

So after talking to myself, I’ve decided I’d like to take the Database Management and Artificial Intelligence courses. What do you think of my choices?