Alumni Highlight: Edgar Vazquez

Q: Why Computer Science? Did you always love technology?

I've played video games since I was kid and have loved them since then. I knew I wanted to do something with games and computers, but was never sure what exactly. Watching behind-the-scene videos and making-of documentaries, I had seen people coding (before I knew exactly what that was) and always thought it looked cool. Typing in an odd language and making a screen do wondrous, bizarre things was fascinating. I never had the chance to take programming classes in high school, so I was coming into it very cold in college. It took sometime to get used, but I really fell for it. After a year of doing the basic courses I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do. I loved the puzzle of it all. Finding the right way to making a script work in a specific way was both infuriating and time consuming, but when you got it, when everything finally clicked into place, you would get a feeling of euphoria and accomplishment that was unmatched. It was neat.

Q: How did majoring Computer Science help you with your career?

It was a means to get into the industry that I wanted to get into. There are obviously other paths, but this one seemed like the correct one for me.

Q: What class did you love the most, and did you have a professor that you learned a lot from?

There were a couple of classes that I enjoyed. The video game classes with Patrick Cavanaugh were my definitely my favorite though. Programming Languages was also very fun, learning about older languages and writing programs with them was great. I don't remember the teacher, but I liked him too.

Q: What challenges have you faced in your career? What advice would you give someone looking to make the same transitions you have?

Nothing out of the usual programming challenges. Going through college was definitely the hardest part of it. After graduating, I was able to find a job pretty quickly thanks to my work at The Attic. I would definitely tell anyone going to UNO for comp-sci to get work there, or at least at the college in something. Working there taught me much about programming and about programming as a job than I could have hoped for.

Q: What do you do for fun in your free time?

I main hobby is still video games, though finding time has gotten harder. When I'm not doing that, then I'll probably be at the gym or running with my dog. I have a house, so that also takes a bit of time. I also love going to the theater to see movies when I get the chance.

Q: Anything else you’d like us to know about you?

Thanks to my work with the Attic and getting to know Zac and Deepak, I was able to get a job pretty quickly out of college. I was able to pay of my car in my first year of work and got a house and moved out in three years. I do believe I made the right decision major wise. Thanks to the opportunities I was given at the college, my life's been pretty good so far. I can't see me doing anything else.