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Student Voices
Chris Cobb
- Hometown: Lynnwood, WA
- Major: Computer Science
Never a Dull Moment
My experience at Western has been incredible! I've been playing intramural sports for 4 years, joined the Men's Ultimate Frisbee Team, taught soccer and racquetball classes, officiated intramural soccer, and spent a year as a Resident Advisor. I have also been involved in the Campus Christian Fellowship (CCF) community since my freshman year, which has been a great way to meet people and get involved in the Western community.
Influential Professor
Phil Nelson of the Computer Science Department has been my most challenging and fun professor. I come out of his classes feeling more knowledgeable and prepared for work in my field. He also encourages us to get involved in developing open source projects as a way to get involved in the online development community, contribute to the community, and gain experience. I have felt inspired by that and it has given me confidence that I have the skills required to do quality work in a professional environment.
A Point of Pride
Math 226 with Branko Curgus was an excellent experience because it was the single-most intellectually challenging course I took at Western. I always left lecture feeling like my brain had just been put through a meat grinder, but in a good way. It was a class I felt proud to have completed (and passed!).
The Value of Hard Work
Unix programming (CSCI 352) was one of my favorite classes because of the course-long project I spent most of my spring working on. I spent more than 100 hours working in it, and the result is a product that I can show to companies as part of my portfolio.
Favorite Memory
Living with three of my closest friends in Fairhaven my freshman year. We had a huge neon green restaurant sign in our room and people would come up to say “hi” just because they could see the sign from the courtyard. We had a blast.
Life after Western
I'm currently doing an internship with Logos Bible Software in downtown Bellingham, and I have applied or am planning to apply for jobs with companies including Logos, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Mobilisa, a software company specializing in wireless technology. I also plan to work on a Masters degree in Computer Science as well as a Masters degree in Theology at a seminary in the area. I would love to spend some time traveling, specifically going to Israel to study Hebrew, or working for one of the big software companies overseas. Who knows what will actually happen, but I'm excited regardless.