Over the past decade, the field of computer science has become a booming market expanding over the entire world, and particularly in the West Coast region of the United States. The creation of companies like Microsoft and Amazon have assisted the job market for computer science in Seattle, and made a computer science major at the University of Washington highly sought after and competitive. Issaquah High School offers three courses taught by Keith Stutler: AP Computer Science Principles, AP Computer Science A, and Advanced Computer Science Topic and Projects. Many students in these classes plan on pursuing computer science as their main career, such as junior Ganeshram Krishnamoorthy, who has already decided that he would like to find a job at “a startup relating to data science.” Others remain uncertain. Freshman Mina Jo says, “I’m not really sure, but I’m definitely considering it since you can get jobs easier and it’s a really big industry.”

The likelihood of finding job stability has made computer science a much more appealing field to several students, such as senior Ellie Brennock who says, “The likeliness that I would find a steady job definitely makes computer science a more appealing field for me, because I like the idea that I could graduate college and be able to quickly find a job.” Junior David Neese felt the same, as he plans to study computer science in college as well as physics, and then utilize his computer science degree to fall back on: “It’s a good backup, so in case whatever you major in is not a very high paying field, then you can just default on your computer science degree.” As computer science is continuing to grow, many felt that the boom in job opportunities will most likely continue for a long time, reaffirming their confidence that they could find stable computer science careers if they choose. Junior Elisa Gerhke explained: “I think it will [continue to be a growing industry], because a lot of the hardware jobs can be taken over by robots, like machines taking over assembly line manufacturing for example, but to make those machines and technologies you need computer science.”

The growth of the industry has also increased an equilibrium for genders pursuing the career, particularly as more girls get exposed through organizations like Girls Who Code, and access to classes in schools. Issaquah students felt that the once male-dominated field was approaching more of a balance. Sophomore Dream Dasgupta says, “I feel like [computer science] is changing currently. Like when you think of a software engineer, you think of a man, but right now there’s a lot of girls in my class so hopefully, there will be more women in the future.”

A number of students seem to have found their future career path and passion by taking computer science at Issaquah High School, through the ability to “[solve] problems in ways that previously weren’t possible, or by finding new ways to solve old problems,” says Krishnamoorthy.