Cellist tunes in to high technology
Musician turns interest in computers into new career
by Andy Poon staff writer
Ron Rabin has spent the better part of his life playing and studying
music, but nowadays the 36-year-old is more in tune with computers than his
cello. Rabin will become the first graduate of the Alternate Routes
to Computing
(ARC) program at UBC this month.
He is one of more than 2,600 UBC students graduating during
Fall Congregation
Nov. 23 and 24. Degrees will be awarded in eight ceremonies at the
Chan Centre
for the Performing Arts.
The ARC program -- developed with Simon Fraser University and industry
partners -- teaches computer science to top university graduates with little or
no computer experience. Students alternate sessions of academic courses and
paid work terms. More than 30 students are currently enrolled in the 24-month
program.
Rabin, a former college music professor, enrolled in the program's inaugural
class in the fall of 1998. He now works with IBM's Pacific Development
Centre in Burnaby building an Internet-based educational portal.
"I am really pleased with the way that everything has turned out," says
Rabin.
Rabin was eight years old when he started playing the cello. He picked up
the instrument after his orchestra teacher noticed him plucking a cello on a
shelf during orchestra selection. From that moment on he had aspirations of
becoming a professional cellist as he played in youth orchestras and concerts
growing up in his native Long Island, N.Y.
But it was during his undergraduate music degree at Stanford University that
he realized a performing career might not be in his future.
"I realized that I just didn't have the dedication to practice four hours a
day and it wasn't my whole life," says Rabin.
He enjoyed writing essays and studying music history so he decided to pursue
a teaching career.
Rabin went on to do his master's degree at Yale University and completed his
doctorate in music history at Cornell University. After graduation,
he secured
a one-year stint filling in for a music professor at the University
of Michigan.
"I didn't like the idea of having to look for a job every year," says Rabin,
who describes the competition for music teaching positions at
U.S. universities
as "totally crazy."
Though he still enjoyed music, he decided it was prudent to look
for a career
in a field in which jobs were plentiful. In 1996, the Internet was
gaining public
awareness.
"It was obviously an industry that was growing and would continue to grow," he
says.
And Rabin had always been interested in computers. At Michigan, he had
witnessed how useful the Internet was for posting on-line music listening
assignments for his students.
"So I thought it would be neat to get involved with computers and
information
technology because it was a broad enough field with many different
niches for me to find something that I was suited for," he says.
UBC's ARC program suited Rabin's needs perfectly. It
was a university-level
program that emphasized a co-op term with a shorter duration than the typical
three years necessary for an additional bachelor's degree in
Computer Science.
With his diploma in Computer Science this month and his career off
to a solid start with IBM, Rabin has definitely hit a high note.
more information
Visit the Web site at www.arc.cs.ubc.ca.
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