The Diploma in Computer Science DE Program at the UP Open University and My Future Plans Better late than never.

I had been a math major during my undergraduate and graduate studies (the latter of which had just finished last September 2008), but I am still currently working as a Programmer Analyst at Safeway Philtech, the IT arm of Safeway US, a Fortune 50 retail company with stores in Canada and the United States. Looking back through the almost twelve (12) years lost in repetitive number-crunching, I realized I should have at least pursued BS Mathematics with Specialization in Computer Applications (MTH-CAP) when I was still an undergraduate at De La Salle University Manila. Now, to augment my current academic credentials (a college degree in pure mathematics with majors in Actuarial Science and Statistics, plus a masters degree in pure mathematics with a major in Number Theory), I decided to pursue the DE program of Diploma in Computer Science at no less than the esteemed UP Open University by 1 st Semester of Academic Year 2009-2010.

Apart from the fact that the DCS program offers me the opportunity to have advanced training in computer science and information technology, it does the same at significantly lesser financial costs and at superior quality that is expected of any educational curriculum conceptualized by the University of the Philippines (UP) System. Also, the Distance Education program does away with the hassles of having to go through horrendous traffic, attend classes and lectures on a regular

schedule, yet still provides a truly merit-based system for grading and evaluation by requiring students to take exams on pre-defined and well-announced-ahead schedules. These things, I believe, are what attract prospective UPOU students to enroll in its DE programs, and that's not just for the DCS program!

After fulfilling all the course requirements of the DE program of Diploma in Computer Science and expecting to graduate in about 2 years from initially enrolling in this graduate study, I intend to establish myself as a full-fledged Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the various Retail Applications that I support in my capacity as Programmer Analyst with Safeway Philtech. In the 4 or 5 years that would follow, if given the chance and the opportunity, I would continue the Diploma degree to a fully-blown Masters degree in either Computer Science or Information Technology (possibly more of the latter), perhaps still with UP Open University (hopefully!), in keeping with my plans of staying on with my company for a longer period of time and honing my technical skills in IT and the related fields where it is applied.