Celebrating Women in Technology – Lynn Thomas Bass
Posted on September 28, 2020 by Keith Lynn
A Degree in Computing
I was exposed to computing in several settings including Explorers, a program of the Boy Scouts. I thought it was interesting to be able to “control” what was presented onscreen.
Finding Inspiration
I had an uncle who was a computer programmer. He was thrilled that someone else in the family was interested in Computing so he was a big influence.
How Has Computing Changed?
Ha! Can you say “no more green screens?” I saw Computing change almost overnight during my years as a student. When I was a freshman, we worked on “dumb terminals” and printed our programs on “deckwriters.” By the time I graduated we were programming on personal computers and printing our programs on high speed printers. And, of course, the rapid change in Computing has continued at an even faster pace.
Favorite Class/Favorite Instructor
My favorite class was actually outside of computer science, but was required for the degree. It was a logic class in the Philosophy department. It was different from any class that I had taken to that point. It supplemented your coding classes to understand why you coded in a structured manner.
Favorite Student Memories
The beautiful campus and close knit community. South is a beautiful campus. I love that it is self-contained and not interspersed with non-campus buildings like other universities. Also, the smaller student body and the very small (at that time) number of Computing students made for a tight group of students, faculty and friends.
Encouraging Words
You can do it and you will always be glad that you did! I was not at the top of my graduating class and was anxious about finding a job using my degree, but fortunately, I did. Many other opportunities have since presented themselves. Computing did not come particularly easy to me. It was almost as if you had to learn a completely new way of thinking (top-down, logical, structured, hierarchical). I’ve had this conversation with another woman co-worker who also majored in Computing that a Computing degree serves you well regardless of your position—programmer, analyst, manager, etc. The discipline that Computing teaches equips you well for analyzing problems, developing solutions and implementing process improvements.