Month: August 2019

What is my identity? I identify myself as a male, Catholic Asian studying Computer Science at the University of Notre Dame. For being an Asian in the technology industry, I face all sorts of stereotypes. One popular stereotype of Asians is that we are all super smart. That may be true for many, but I was not born with the intelligent genes that people expect me to have. I am an average student who has to work hard to get A’s just like everyone else. I do get uncomfortable sometimes when people approach me for help just because I am Asian who probably knows the answer, but like most people, I’m not good at everything and makes me appear as a fool when I don’t know.

Furthermore, I manifest the Notre Dame stereotype in that I am a Catholic student. Before coming into Notre Dame, being a Catholic meant being in the minority as most of the people around me were not. I didn’t proudly identify myself as Catholic, and my faith felt weaker. So for me, subscribing to the Notre Dame stereotype feels relieving because I don’t have to shy about my religion. Surrounded by many who share the same belief, I feel more welcomed by my community, making me proud of my identity.

Attending Notre Dame is a great privilege for me because I not only am around other Catholics like me but also get to receive one of the best education in the United States. Having the opportunity to learn in a prestigious institution that offers great resources and wonderful professors is something that only a few people get to have, and I feel extremely lucky that I get to be in this position in my life. With this education, I was offered a full-time position with a generous salary as a starting software engineer. Almost everyday, I am reminded of how fortunate I am from the people around me. My friends always tell me that not many professions offer as much compensation for recent graduates like this, so being successful in the field of Computer Science means a lot to me. Doing something I enjoy as my primary career while being paid with great salary is a great privilege that I will never forget.

During my time at Notre Dame, I have learned and experienced so many things in such a short period of time. I had the opportunity to learn a wide spectrum of Computer Science, from fundamental concepts to hot topics like machine learning, and get hands-on experience on cool projects during my internships. Yet, I never spent the time to reflect what it really meant to be a Notre Dame Computer Science and Engineering graduate. Now that I am thinking about it, I realize that graduating as a Computer Science major here is special. Unlike most universities, Notre Dame is a Catholic institution, where we follow Catholic values, and as engineers from Notre Dame, we have a responsibility to uphold these values. In this privileged position that I am in, I will do my best to contribute my skills to develop technology that can help and even save people’s lives and maintain a positive mindset that aligns with Catholic values.

When I think about an ethically responsible person, I think of someone who uses his or her power in the right way. The point of controversy is, however, what defines the right course of action. Many agree on the fundamental rules in ethics, but there are situations in which the right decision is ambiguous. Among the many ethical, moral, and religious frameworks, I would say Kantian ethics is the best set of guidelines to determine the morality of an action. I believe this framework is best suited to determining whether an action is right or wrong because the maxims that we should follow are universally agreed upon as being morally correct, so there should theoretically be no ambiguity in judging an action. Nevertheless, there are some circumstances in which following universal laws violates other laws. For instance, being honest and telling the truth is generally seen as moral conduct, but if it’s on someone’s private information, then it becomes controversial. I would say in these kinds of situations, the right choice would be the one that causes the least harm to people, similar to the utilitarian framework but only when following a certain law inevitably violates another. In my future career in technology, these kinds of ethical frameworks will guide me to be an ethically responsible software engineer. Whenever I am confronted with difficult choices, I will look to my set of ethical frameworks to help me make the moral decision, ensuring that I continue to adhere to my moral standards.

Throughout my experience at the University of Notre Dame, I have developed a talent to create powerful programs. Although I switched majors from Science Pre-Professional Studies to Computer Science, I have learned to become a good software engineer by assimilating the fundamental concepts in my classes and exploring new technologies outside of school. With this new and powerful talent, I realized that I had the potential to do good or bad things. I knew that I had to be responsible with the knowledge that I had obtained over the past few years. This kind of power is escalated in the technology industry. Big tech companies hold great power to accomplish great things, but at the same time, they are prone to violating core ethical values. The most prevalent issue in the technology industry is privacy. With the resources available today, it is easy for companies to collect data on our personal information. While I do believe it is permissible for them to collect data when absolutely necessary to make our experience with software more convenient, they must be extremely responsible in doing so. Insecurely handling valuable, personal data and distributing private information to third parties are just a few examples of unethical actions that tech companies must absolutely avoid in order to maintain the people’s trust. With only few months left before I enter into the technology industry, I will definitely strive to become an ethically responsible person. Knowing that I will be constantly dealing with sensitive data and the ramifications of mishandling such information, I will be doing my utmost best to follow my ethical values in hopes that others will do the same to minimize the frequency of unjust decisions in the technology industry.