you are the first in your family to study computing
you are not 100% sure CS is the right major for you
Look around.
That is normal. This course exists partly to help you answer it.
At your table
Name. Hometown. One thing you want to build someday.
However unrealistic. Especially if unrealistic.
CS is not “programming.”
Programming is one tool. The field is about what can be computed, how fast, at what cost, and what happens to people when you do.
The map
AI & Machine Learning
Security
Systems
Networks
Databases
Graphics
Theory
Human-Computer Interaction
Software Engineering
Open Source
Programming Languages
Robotics
One of these a week.
Not deeply. Just enough to know which ones you want more of.
The honest part
Most of you will change your mind at least once.
That is the system working, not failing. It is much cheaper to discover you love security in your first semester than in your last.
Live demo
Something real, built from nothing, in ninety seconds.
By Wed, Sep 23 you will be doing this. By December you will have shipped one.
Why you belong here.
The students who arrive already knowing how to code are ahead in week one, and it evens out faster than you would think.
What actually predicts how this goes for you is whether you ask for help early.
That is it. That is the variable.
Your peer mentors
They were sitting where you are, one or two years ago.
Each of them has a pod. Learn your mentor's name today.
The one required action today
Three sign-ups.
GitHub account, with a username you would put on a résumé
GitHub Student Developer Pack, applied for before you leave the room
The Day 1 survey. The class Slack invite comes by email: check your inbox
The survey QR code is on the course site landing page, and the links are in TCU Online.
The Student Pack is the only thing today with a deadline that is not mine.
Verification takes days, sometimes longer, and your agent has to be running by Wed, Sep 23. Apply before you leave this room.
What this semester looks like
Once a week. Missing a class means missing a whole topic. One free absence.
You will build and publish something real by December.
You are expected to use AI tools here.
Snacks every week. Tell me about allergies on the survey.
Your first deadline lands before October. They are all on the schedule.
The catch
You will own everything it gets wrong.
The biggest chunk of points on your project is for finding and fixing what the agent got wrong. A project that worked perfectly the first time scores worse than one that broke three times and you can explain why.
Before you leave
Student Pack application submitted? Your mentor is checking.
Watch your email: the Slack invite is coming today
Next week: bring your laptop, broken or not
See you Wednesday.
Before next week, two things: install IntelliJ IDEA, and open the karel-starter zip inside it. Then read Karel reader chapters 1–2. That is all. If it breaks, come with it broken. That is the assignment.