Talking Points:
- Karen Aguar, a Georgia College Alumna, is a female Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the University of Georgia.
- Aguar graduated from Georgia College in 2012 with her Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. She did not originally enter GC intending to major in computer science, but she found she really enjoyed the introductory CS courses. After changing her major, she worked with the computer science professors to finish her degree in four years. While she was an undergrad, she worked as a tutor for computer science and also created instructional videos to supplement some of the textbooks used in the computer science departments.
- Knowing she wanted to teach, Aguar applied to University of Georgia’s Ph.D. in Computer Science program. She was not originally accepted to the Ph.D. program, but they had accepted her to their master’s in computer science program. Instead of giving up her dream of teaching and entering the workforce, Aguar took a chance and accepted her invitation to their master’s program with hopes of transferring to their Ph.D. program. After a short time at UGA, she was accepted as the only American female pursuing her Ph.D. in computer science at UGA during this time.
- She credits her academic success to a strong support system of professors from both Georgia College and the University of Georgia. She stated that the small class sizes and the personal relationships created with the professors at GC were invaluable; and because UGA did not offer a research topic that fit her interests, she worked with UGA professors to create an entirely new research topic for computer science majors in computer science education.
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