Flourishing Music Passion While Studying Computer Science

Shayan's personal philosophy is that university is a place to seek out passions and discover what you are interested in. “Music is a large part of my life, regardless of my career,” said Shayan, who is in his final term of Computer Science with a minor in Music. His interest in computer science was planted when he took a programming course in high school, but he also grew up loving and appreciating how playing music fosters social connections and community building, especially in the Bahá’i faith community in which he grew up. “Having musical knowledge to any degree is a very useful tool in social contexts; it has a strong power of bringing people together and making connections with others,” he added. Shayan has been enrolled in Orchestra@UWaterloo for eight terms and participated in the Instrumental Chamber Ensemble as well. “My student life absolutely would not have been the same without ensembles. The CS program stimulates certain parts of your brain, and sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Having music as a creative outlet is very beneficial for my mental health and overall motivation because of the variety of challenges that it involves,” he shared.