Christopher Becker has evidence of his early love of computers and mathematics; a photo of himself at one-year old and playing a math game on a computer.  It is easy to see that computers and numbers have always interested him; but classes in computer programming and mathematics at State University of New York in Fredonia have allowed him to see the world in new ways.

“At first I thought that I would be involved in math career,” Christopher said, “but in ninth grade my math teacher gave me a book on how to program a calculator.” The simple program, to solve the quadratic equation, showed Christopher how programming could help him solve problems faster.

After his first experience with computer programming, Christopher began to teach himself computer languages. As a high school member of Business Professionals of America he finally settled on computer programming as a future career. He registered for computer programming competitions, which forced him to learn programming on his own.

“I grabbed a lot of books and just start reading them,” he recalled. Though he was teaching himself, he knew some retired programmers who shared their knowledge with him whenever he got stuck. Christopher believes that learning from others is essential to the study of computer science including being willing and excited about going beyond what you are learning in class. “You learn tricks of the trade from people who know more than you,” he suggested.

“You learn doing things hands-on that you don’t learn in the classroom,” Christopher said. “You become more comfortable with programming and learn what will work and what won’t work.” Christopher says math, as well as computer programming, is learning about how to solve problems, and the more experience you have the better.

During the spring of 2007 Christopher was on a team of four students who submitted a new design for Fredonia’s website for a Student Research and Creativity Expo. While the design was not adopted, the project got Christopher and his teammates jobs working with Fredonia’s webmaster redesigning and updating the school’s website. Christopher says, its one example of the benefits of extracurricular activities. By studying math in college, Christopher has improved his ability to see patterns and apply them to computer science and other areas of his life.

“Math teaches you to analyze data quickly, or quicker than usual. Which really helps in a number of areas. It applies everywhere if you are looking for it to apply,” he explained. In discussions with his classmates Christopher has discovered that many mathematics students believe that studying math in college has given them an acute ability to recognize patterns in things as simple as floor tiles to complex mathematical theory.

Christopher’s dedication to programming has given him more than just self-designed calculator programs or computer games; it has also opened vast array of opportunities.

In high school he attended MARS (Math and Related Sciences) Camp in Maryland, where he learned cryptanalysis and code breaking from employees of the National Security Agency. At college Christopher is President of the Computer Science Club. He also belongs to the Fredonia Association for Computer Machinery Team that competes in contests against some of the country’s top computer programming schools such as Harvard and MIT. He is also a head lab proctor at Fredonia, helping to decide which programs will be used around the school. During the summer of 2008 he worked as an intern at Lockheed Martin in Eagan, Minnesota. 

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