Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Chris Wacek is a double major in Computer Science and Economics. (Photo: Roland Dimaya)

By LiAnna Davis

Junior Chris Wacek had no idea what he wanted to major in when he came to Georgetown.

“My sophomore year I took my first Computer Science course ever, taught by Dr. Clay Shields,” he says. “I enjoyed that class so much that I took another computer science course, and the next semester, I declared myself as a Computer Science major with Dr. Shields as my academic advisor. I find him to be an excellent teacher, a professor who encourages people to figure things out for themselves, but who is extraordinarily helpful when you end up in a tough spot. It's that combination of qualities that draws me to working with him. It's a system that can be educational without being frustrating.”

Now a double Computer Science and Economics major, Wacek is working with Dr. Shields and fellow student Wade Tandy to develop a system that monitors which computers have opened a file on a network, even after the file has been deleted.

“It is an incredibly educational experience,” Wacek says of his research with Dr. Shields. “Much of what I have been working on is in an area that I don't know much about, and I have had to learn as I go. At the same time the hardest part about research is its amorphous nature. The deadlines are very flexible, and often you don't know what you're actually looking for until you've been looking at the wrong thing for a few hours. This can be a frustrating experience, but also very rewarding.”

Wacek is still exploring possibilities for a career after graduation, but he recognizes that the work he’s doing with Dr. Shields is teaching him how to work autonomously in an environment where the goal is not necessarily clear, a skill he knows will be valuable regardless of what he does. The collaborative working environment among Dr. Shields’ research group is also encouraging him to gain confidence in his skills.

“Dr. Shields is a professor who clearly knows his field and is very experienced. At the same time, he is not a person to hold that over you,” Wacek explains. “It's refreshing to work with someone who will accept ideas from other people, despite clear differences in knowledge levels. This makes for a much more collaborative experience than many situations I have been in working with people older than me.”

Wacek, who has lived in Minnesota, England, and Connecticut, has served as technical director of the Nomadic Theatre group, which performs socially aware theater on campus. Wacek will serve as executive producer of the group next year.

“It is with Nomadic that I have found my home at Georgetown, and I believe that the role that we fill in the Georgetown community is very important,” he says. “This fall we put on a production of The Exonerated, a play which explores the lives of individuals who were sentenced to death and then exonerated, in some cases 20 years later. I think plays of this type are very educational and important to our social setting.”

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