Posted on June 7, 2021 by College of Sciences
#AwesomeAlum
Joshua Greene
By Ryan Schoensee
After teaching middle school science and special education for several years at Northside ISD, Joshua Greene decided he was ready for something new. Josh always had an interest in computers and technology and believed that it could lead to a rewarding career. In 2017, he chose to pursue a graduate degree in computer science.
Josh decided to earn his master's at UTSA because he's from San Antonio and has family close by for support. Josh also knew that UTSA offered a high-quality education that was available at an affordable price. Once Josh began taking classes at UTSA, he found the university's diverse community to be another unique benefit.
"I think UTSA has a lot of diverse students in terms of age and life experience. I discovered that it was a great school to go to as a 30-something," said Josh. "Even though UTSA's student population keeps growing, there's still a small-school feeling on campus."
During his time at UTSA, Greene enjoyed conducting research in Dr. Amanda Fernandez's artificial intelligence lab. "Dr. Fernandez is a fantastic instructor and advisor. The students in her lab served as a supportive family that formed camaraderie by bouncing programming-related ideas off each other."
Last summer, during the middle of the pandemic, Josh graduated from UTSA with an M.S. in Computer Science. He accomplished his goal and recently started his first job in the tech industry as a Cloud Engineer for IBM.
In his new role, Josh is on a team that is creating the next generation of cloud infrastructure for the government and financial sector. His first assignment is to test the tools that will monitor software development and ensure that they're meeting federal regulations and industry security standards.
Josh is thankful that UTSA helped him develop the skills necessary to be successful in his new career. "The Computer Science Department at UTSA prepared me with practical and theoretical coding knowledge and helped me build a great resume that was attractive to potential employers."
If Josh had to do college all over again, the only thing he would change would be to double major in both computer science and also either math, physics, or chemistry. He believes some of the most interesting work in the field is related to scientific computing, "If you have the programming background and the scientific understanding, you'll get to work on amazing projects that no one else is doing."
Josh believes that pursuing a career in computer science is worth it. He has advice for other Roadrunners who are interested in this challenging, yet rewarding area of study.
"Majoring in computer science can put you on track for a great career with great pay and benefits," said Josh. "But it's not easy. When things get tough and you want to quit, don't do it! Keep with it because putting in the hard work will pay off sooner than you think."
— College of Sciences
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