Nicholas Hunt

I have always been fascinated with puzzles and computers – looking up documentaries on the Cicada 3301 puzzles till the break of dawn and wrapping my head around how people used software to decrypt files. I have always loved problems; the idea of thinking them through and offering creative and optimized solutions felt special to me. When I was in the third grade, we would go over the ten-by-ten multiplication tables; everyone would memorize the individual cases. I am not sure if it was my third-grade laziness or my different way of thinking, but I focused on finding the patterns. I always had an interest in finding new ways of thinking through new concepts - ways that worked best for me. As elementary as that problem seems, this is a clear example of how my mind organizes data even from a young age. Another unique quality of mine is my unparalleled focus on solving a problem; I do not give up, and I thrive in the unknown. That is half the reason I became a Computer Science and Mathematics double major at my current university. In my senior year, I did not have much interest in any specific career path until I started to awaken my lost love for computer systems and problem-solving. I started to delve into what it means to be a computer scientist. I became fascinated and filled with enthusiasm as I neared the completion of high school. I counted down the days until I could start my college courses. I was introduced to the captivating world of programming. A love for building and running programs through different high-level languages such as java made me feel like I was connecting with the machine. I also took on a bit of assembly programming in private study throughout my freshman year. Assembly is a low-level language that requires a lot of code to perform the simplest of actions in other high-level languages. I learned some basic commands and created a simple calculator.

I plan to transfer to Rochester Institute of Technology to continue my journey through computer science. I am mostly excited for their highly accredited program paired with their top-tier coop program. I cannot wait to get into the field and start working with what I have learned thus far.