The Three Musketeers

College was something I didn’t think too much about until my senior year of high school, as I was more concerned with what was currently happening in my life and wished not to bother myself with the future. Luckily I had people to guide me in the right direction thus allowing me to just barely make the University of California (UC) extended application deadline. After the application process all I could think about was my near future; would I get in to my desired schools, and if not what would I do? A few months rolled around yielding me with acceptance letters from various schools, the best being Cal Poly, but no response from UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). A whole month passed before I received a letter from UCSB and I believe the words yelled upon opening were simply, “fuck yes!”

Unlike most other students at UCSB, I did not attend orientation and thus I had no clue what to expect on arrival. Fortunately Santa Barbara greeted me with open arms and this place immediately became my new home. I arrived fifteen minutes early to my first UCSB class, Computer Science 10, to find an almost empty room; only two chairs were taken. This was my first encounter with Adam and Scott who too were attending their first UCSB class. I’m not quite sure how, perhaps out of the sheer awkwardness of being the only three people in a room that seats about 100, we managed to start a conversation. While I don’t remember much about the conversation, I remember asking if they were second year students because I had the impression they did not just meet that morning, however they informed me that they too were freshmen and I eventually discovered they grew up together. Once class started I didn’t think much of them as I was too occupied with discovering what this whole “Computer Science” thing is about, and when class ended we all went our separate ways, or so we thought. Math 3C did not present me with an opportunity to be fifteen minutes early, however upon entering the nearly full room, two people stood out in the crowd of approximately 150. I don’t believe we chatted during the first class, however due to sharing half of our course schedule together we slowly gravitated together, and this is how the three musketeers formed.

Following freshmen year, the three of us moved into the house which we still occupy. Since we are all Computer Science Majors we created strikingly similar schedules, and the odds were that if one of us was seen on the bike path, then all of us were. Our house became, and still is, an ongoing discussion group regarding anything and everything. We work on our homeworks together, and share ideas for projects, all while avoiding Academic Misconduct, which our school seems to be very strict on. While I don’t agree completely with the Academic Misconduct policy, because it hinders collaboration, I realize with some students collaboration is a means to avoid some, or all work. As that is not the case with us, living together contributes heavily to our success at UCSB.

So why did I refer to us as the Three Musketeers? Prior to the end of Winter Quarter 2006, we decided to apply for the BS/MS program which would allow us to get a Masters of Science in Computer Science (CS) requiring an additional year of College. During this period of time we, as a trio, made many visits to the CS department and I guess people started talking. Moving up to just last week, we attended the graduate student and faculty barbecue where we got to break through the student professor barrier by sharing a few beers with those who we attentively listen to while being lectured about various topics. Well, while in line for food we just introduced ourselves to one of our professors, when shortly thereafter a few words were spoke which went something like this:

Person 0: You mean the Three Musketeers?
Person 1: Oh no! You spilled the beans on what we call them.

Since this occurrence we have started referring to ourselves as the Three Musketeers, and are even thinking about dressing as the Three Musketeers for one, of the many, Halloween nights this year. To finally wrap this up, Adam turned 21 this past weekend thus Scott, and I are taking him out for his first night on the town, downtown Santa Barbara that is.