NeuroScience

West Ranch senior Ethan War has always found solace in video games. His passion for playing has led him to decide to major in computer science at UCSD. War hopes that one day he will be able to translate his gaming hobby into a job in video game design, following in his father’s footsteps.

War’s interest in computer science began to flourish after taking two AP computer science classes offered at West Ranch and a few additional classes at various community colleges. To him, the subject is appealing because of “the challenges that come with computer science. I like how it makes you think abstractly and I think that’s really cool and something that I’m good at.”

Computer science is a vast field, covering everything from artificial intelligence to human computer interaction, but War said his favorite part of the subject is the actual coding. “I like the programming, I like the algorithms and I like the logic that goes into it,” War detailed. In order to sharpen his programming skills, War has learned multiple coding languages and programmed several apps in his free time, both for classwork and for personal gain.

War explained that his inspiration to learn computer science stems from “The continuing innovations [in coding] and how games are using better graphics, how they’re getting better every day.” He hopes that in the future, he will be able to find work “at a big name video game company down here in LA as a level designer just like my father.”

The decision to practice medicine is a long and hard educational journey. However, Kulkarni has predetermined multiple career goals she hopes to achieve throughout the next fifteen years. “In five years, hopefully, I get into medical school. In ten years, I’m out of medical school, and I’m doing a residency for neuroscience. In fifteen years, I’m making $500,000 a year as a neurosurgeon.”

Kulkarni’s commitment to pursue a STEM-related field was always an instinctual decision. Her volunteer work at the hospital and inserting herself in an environment she will soon dominate has given Kulkarni that extra step in her career as she sees first hand why she chose neuroscience. “When I volunteer at the hospital, I see how passionate the doctors are in helping people so I thought I want to do that too.”