Claire Nicholas '23

What is your fondest memory of your time in the CS department?

My fondest memory of my time in the CS department is probably the people. I remember walking in on the first day of my second semester and seeing all of the same faces from my first semester classes and realizing that I would be spending the next four years with this group. I came to know the people in my class as kind and collaborative, people that would both ask for and offer help, and people that enjoyed working together to get through some of the more brutal classes. I knew that even if I was ripping my hair out over some homework assignment or was stressing about an exam, I could always reach out for help, because odds are most people felt the same as me.

How has your education impacted your career?

Often in my job, I don't have to reference the exact material that I learned during my time at Tech. I'm not using JavaFX or MIPS on the day-to-day. However, the most important thing I took away from my education was how to learn, how to adapt quickly, and how to learn new programming concepts and languages on the fly. That is an invaluable skill in the workforce, and that's what I use every day when I go to work. In my short time working at Target, I have been commended by my team and manager for my passion and ability to learn. That drive for knowledge that I picked up over my time at Tech is what is setting me up for a good start to my career.

Claire stays in contact with many Tech students and some of her MTU clubs in case she can support them.