As an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major, I enjoy writing code, but even when debugging takes longer than expected, there are three reasons why I think computer science is the best:
It's like a puzzle. There is an answer somewhere, and it's your job to move the pieces (punctuation, for and while loops, data structures, and variables) around to give you that answer.
You can teach yourself. You don't have to wait for anyone to explain to you how to write code. You can get started right now...I mean it, get started right now.
It's incredibly useful. Code is everywhere: it's in your phone, your computer, cars, your favorite apps and games, stores, stop signs, soda machines...the list goes on and on.
Getting Started
You may be wondering, though, how to get started. First, you'll probably want to choose a language to start studying. My personal favorites are Java and Python, the first two languages I learned in great detail.
Although I learned Java in a classroom setting, I found YouTube tutorials, reference books, and websites to be incredibly helpful. One of my favorite sites, which I still return to for fun today, is CodingBat, which has coding exercises to help you learn.
Python, on the other hand, I learned outside of a classroom setting, and I can't emphasize enough how wonderful Codecademy was for practicing Python. One of the more difficult things about teaching yourself something is the need to reference multiple materials: having to lug around a book, laptop with many different tabs open, and scratch paper and pencil can be a deterrent to putting in some time to learn something new. Codecademy changes the self-teaching game by presenting the lesson on the side of the screen right next to the associated activity.
Where to next?
As you continue to expand your computer science knowledge, think about looking into the most-used programming languages. Here are two lists to get you started:
Inspiring and Empowering
One of my favorite things about being a woman in STEM is encouraging young girls to pursue their interests in math, science, and coding. Girls Who Code and Made With Code are two great groups that do a great deal to bridge the gender gap in computer science.
Personal Favorite
If you're on Instagram, you should follow Laura Medalia, a really amazing software engineer who works at a NYC startup. On Instagram, she goes by CoderGirl.
Happy coding!