Becki Pierotti

What have you been doing since you graduated?

I'm a Systems Administrator at Lockheed Martin in Boulder, CO.

Why did you choose to major in CS?

I entered Bucknell as a declared Mechanical Engineering student. Bucknell has its first-year engineers take an introduction to engineering course (ENGR 100). After my first seminar, which was in Mechanical, and I realized that it wasn't the best choice for me. The second seminar I took was on Computer Science, and it seemed a lot more my style. I talked to Professor Zaccone to learn more about the major, and I decided to go for it. Additionally, my dad's a math teacher, which was definitely an influence in choosing something math-oriented. The final influence was video games. I'd be lying if I said they didn't have anything to do with it.

What was the best thing you got for your career from your Bucknell education?

Balance. Bucknell has a reputation for being a tough school, and it really teaches you to handle a rigorous workload. I was also a varsity athlete, so I was splitting my time between all of my classes and whatever projects they assigned, and running. Life in industry is the same way. Even though you always have multiple projects to complete, I firmly believe you need to have a life outside of work, too. Bucknell teaches you to strike a balance and walk that fine line.

Advice for incoming students

Get involved, but not too involved. You definitely want to have interests and activities outside your classes, but you don't want to spread yourself too thin either. I ran on the cross-country and track teams. It was great to have somewhere to go after class and friends outside my major. However, running and schoolwork took up enough time that I feel like any more extracurriculars would have completely stressed me out, and both my athletics and academics would have suffered.