Software Engineering... What?

21 Jan 2021

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Software engineering… what is that? With it being such a vague term, I didn’t know what to expect when coming into this class (and I still don’t)…

My Initial Interests

When I first entered college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. An experience I find isn’t uncommon for what I like to call barely-adults. Out of curiosity and exploration, I decided to take ICS 111 (Java 1) and my eyes were opened to the opportunities. It was such a positive experience for me and it was the only class I looked forward to going. I couldn’t wait to work on my assignments and see what I could do. Despite thoroughly enjoying that class, I did not declare my major until I finished my general education requirements, as I was still unsure. I had explored other options within that time period but something about the experience of that class stuck to me.

The Reality of Being a CompSci Student

Younger and more naive, I thought the rest of my education in computer science would go just as smoothly as that first ICS 111 class- I soon found out I was wrong. I quickly learned that succeeding in programming involves a lot of self-learning, time, commitment, and discipline. Things that I am still working on, and are often difficult to achieve especially with the current affairs of the world. Additionally, as I moved further into the world of CompSci, I began developing interests in other areas of computer science besides programming.

My Goals and Aspirations

Though becoming a “programmer” or software engineer is, ironically, not a goal of my education in computer science anymore, I understand that it is necessary to have (at least) a basic understanding of the programming languages. I’m looking forward to the projects I get to work on as a result of my programming and software engineering classes and hopefully refine my skills in coding so that I can have the skills to create personal projects in the future, and to be a well-rounded compsci student.