Jack Murphy, SVHS 2014, reports in from U. Michigan

‘SVHS showed me my passion, and Michigan is allowing me to explore it.’ says Murphy.|

My first two years at the University of Michigan have been nothing short of memorable.

From one of the first snow days in over 30 years, to the arrival of Jim Harbaugh and the subsequent transformation of Ann Arbor, Michigan to Ann Ar-Baugh, I have been lucky to attend Michigan.

My favorite thing about Michigan is the opportunities the school presents. Being at a school of about 40,000, it can be overwhelming to find your path, however, once a path is discovered, there are a multitude of opportunities available.

In my time at Sonoma Valley High, there were two classes that were my favorites by far: metal shop and computer science. Metal shop showed me my passion for creation and computer science introduced me to the art of programming. With these two classes, I knew I wanted to study engineering, but didn't know what kind.

At Michigan I took many classes to see what I wanted to do and ultimately decided on computer science engineering. Although I know I love this major, I am unsure what exactly I would like to do with it.

As a result, this fall I am going to explore my interest in cognitive science and its influence on artificial intelligence in computers.

In addition, Michigan has given me the opportunity to attend the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology this summer to take classes in another culture, which I am excited about to say the least.

Beyond the classroom, the opportunity to meet people across the country and globe has created lifelong friends and cherished memories – such as playing snow football at 2 a.m. because of the previously mentioned snow day.

Given my time at Michigan so far, I am excited and anxious for what is next. Classes, clubs and my friends will continue to push me to learn and do more. Though I know I want to be a computer scientist, I am still unsure about what I will do in this large field – but I know that Michigan will continue to give me the opportunities to further discover my path.

All in all, Sonoma Valley High School showed me a potential passion and the courses at Sonoma let me get an introduction to engineering. If the current engineering track was offered during my time at SVHS, I would have done it but instead I believe I utilized the resources available in order to develop my engineering curiosity.

SVHS showed me my passion, and Michigan is allowing me to explore it. 'Go Dragons and Forever Go Blue.'

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