FIRST for Non-Engineering Students

[RyanCahoon]

Just to add another possibility to the mix... at Carnegie Mellon (at least in the CS dept.), Prof. Roger Dannenberg is mildly famous for being the CS guy who plays the trumpet too. He has cross appointments in the School of Computer Science (SCS) and the College of Fine Arts (CFA). For those who are into computer music, his lab produced both Nyquist (one of the first audio-programming languages) and the Audacity audio editor, and he was doing work on auto-accompaniment software as early as the 1980s. CMU also has a BCSA degree (Bachelor of Computer Science and Art), in which the curriculum is taken from the SCS and CFA and combines them.

Okay, school promotion aside, just saying there may be ways to combine your passions in closer ways than you think.

Luck,
--Ryan

[Chris27]

Originally Posted by RyanCahoon

CMU also has a BCSA degree (Bachelor of Computer Science and Art), in which the curriculum is taken from the SCS and CFA and combines them.

The SCS department/School of Music also gives a Bachelor of Science in Music and Technology.

[FIRSTgirl675]

I think its great though that you have a passion for robotics and music. Most students from my school end up going into engineering (partially because all students are required to take 4 years of engineering and that is one of the perks of the school). I am a student that is kind of like you; caught between 2 paths. I am currently a co-leader of our build team and LOVE engineering, but I am planning on majoring in Biology when I get into college because I want to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. I have had that internal debate about if I really want to become a doctor or an engineer. As a freshman in high school (currently a junior), I was looking at colleges based off of if they had a good pre-medicine program AND engineering program in case I changed my mind because I was so unsure at that moment. All I have to say is do what feels right, and whatever you choose to do will be the right decision. Whatever you choose not to pursue you will still always have.

[Shmee]

Wow, what a story!

Personally, I plan on majoring in Environmental Policy or something of the sort. As a captain, I encourage my kids (I'm also nicknamed Team Mom) to explore all the parts of Robotics-from working on the robot to working on our business plan and other lit. As a freshman, I worked with the robot far more than any business stuff, but now, as a junior, I'm in charge of everything but the robot. For a while, I thought of Environmental Engineering, but since my math and science are somewhat lacking (despite being Chinese, haha), I'm leaning towards other environmental majors. Although I'm not as connected with engineering, I do understand it, and especially as a freshman, was inspired by the things we did.

I also understand your love of music. I'm flute section leader, and I regularly participate in District Bands and other extracurricular bands. I admire your dedication to trumpet, and I think it's awesome that you want to pursue music as your career! I think FIRST does encourage technology, science, and engineering, but at the same time, I think a good part of it is just finding something that you love to do, and from my experiences with FIRST, people will support you whatever you do. From my team, I know that there are budding engineering majors, but also pre-med, and even, I think, a Classics major who happens to be on our build team. I certainly don't think that just because someone works with a robot and loves it means that they have to major in something science/tech/engineering related.

Reading other people's posts...it seems music majors can do anything! For instance, I know one of the admissions people at Wash U in St. Louis majored in music and look what she's doing now

I wish you all the best!
~Hannah

(Incidentally, have you competed in the National Trumpet Competition? One of my best friends also plays trumpet.)

[keehun]

Originally Posted by Shmee

(Incidentally, have you competed in the National Trumpet Competition? One of my best friends also plays trumpet.)

I have not. I wish I was the caliber of these contestants! I could throw my academic life away and practice trumpet all day, but I don't think that's a sustainable plan, either, since even if I practice 10 hours a day and start winning these competitions, there will always be someone better than me -- to get that one orchestral job that I needed to keep myself fed. I'm not too interested in the pure performance and competing with others. I want to spread and share the passion of music by being a teacher. Nonetheless, I have auditions coming up and I'm preparing hard for those! It sucks that it coincides with the robotics season... Anyway...