1 min read

The IU Computer Science Community

I am always impressed by the quality and helpfulness of the Computer Science community here at Indiana University. While I am sure other schools provide some level of support for their undergraduates and also for their graduate students, the atomsphere at Indiana is hard to beat. Just as an example, take the PL Wonks group. It's a weekly group that discusses various topics related to Programming Languages. Each of us takes a turn at presenting something each semester. I always like to put talks and papers through this group before I give them publically somewhere else, simply because this group provides just great, helpful feedback, and no one is afraid to really tell it to you honestly. We can be honest because we're friendly enough to be so. It's a great environment to improve not only your presentation skills, but also the quality of your research.

Of course, this extends to more than just graduate research. I have remarked before to other colleagues, but I don't know of many other schools where you get the level of support and mentoring as an undergraduate as you get here. I'm sure that other schools exist that provide them, and I know of a few that really really care about giving their undergraduates a great education, but I am really glad to count Indiana among those. There are so many opportunities to get real feedback and improve your work. It's not handholding, but real and honest mentorship. I really appreciate that about this program.

Alright, enough of the sappy praise. I just figured that I should say something positive about the groups here, and encourage others to take education as seriously, or more so!