As part of the Computer Science program at RIT, students are required to complete four quarters (a quarter is 3 months long) of full-time work experience relevant to the field of Computer Science. I started my co-op at the beginning of December and am continuing it until the end of May. I am working at the University of Maryland for Michael Cummings in the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology which is part of the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. Ever since I started my job at UMD, I have found life to be very different than I have normally been accustomed to during college.
One of the biggest differences is that the amount of free time you have decreases a lot. In school, class schedules vary day to day, but there is always time to do something. The time I spent in class is much less than the time I spend at work. Granted that part of my time outside of class is doing work for the class, there was always leisure time to go out for a few hours and hang out with friends. Invariably, time is the fundamental element that structure how I live in Maryland.
I spent about 8 hours at work from the morning until early evening. Part of this time is spent preparing for my day at work (i.e. trying to wake up to a conscious state so I can drive there). At the end of the day, I don’t necessarily have the same “freedom” that I would normally feel getting out of class or when the school day is over. There is usually something “important” I have to do when I come home. Whether it’s paying bills, taking care of chores, running errands, making my dinner, or finishing up some work at home, such tasks rank higher on the list of priorities. Once I take care of everything I need to, I either watch TV or muck around on the Internet. I don’t spend as much time doing so as I used to in college. Sometimes I get wiped out at work and all I want do is sleep. Other times, if I want to go out and do something, it’s usually too late or near to closing time to make the trip worthwhile (which is what weekends are for now).
Regardless of the time I spend (or waste depending on how you look at it), I’m still enjoying it fully. There were more things about working in Maryland that I was going to discuss, but I’m saving them for later. I’ve already spent enough time writing this post as is.
