Journey to Innovation: Coding, Collaborating, and Developing
29 Jan 2025
Discovery: One Small Step for Me, One Giant Leap for my Future
My passion for software engineering probably began in middle school. When deciding to pick a class in the 7th grade I saw a STEM class being offered. And from my minimal knowledge of STEM and what my father wanted me to be I thought it was an engineering class. So, it came to be a big shock that it was not when the teacher made the class start coding in python on the first day. At first I was confused and anxious since I had no experience in any coding languages and could not drop the class. But these feelings quickly went away as a friend of mine was also in the class, and I began to realize that coding was kind of like an ever growing complicated puzzle that never ends. This falls in line with my enjoyment as at the time, I started getting into logic puzzles like the Rubik’s cube and sudoku. However, as the class went on we slowly began transitioning out of coding and just building stuff in Minecraft which was fun, but I was not learning anything about programming.
So, I eventually lost my passion for it until my Junior year of high school where I took arguably the easiest AP class my school offered, AP Computer Science Principles. This differs from my previous computer science class because I came in with some experience as I did look up some videos on the topic during the Minecraft phase of my middle school class. So, while I initially took the class for an easy A, I began to love programming again which made me want to do some actual coding which we kind of did as we used a simplified version of it using code blocks. Code blocks are essentially drag and drop functions which we connect like puzzle pieces. Once all of that was said and done, I made the commitment and decided to study Computer Science once I went to college.
Skillset: Tools of the Trade
From this class I am hoping to learn more about the software development cycle from the initial concept to maintaining the product for future use. Starting from the beginning where to decide what to make, what would someone need that would inadvertently help more people than intended. A concept that reaches beyond its initial audience is a great idea, but one that does not come easily or intentionally. Like Coca-Cola. Moving onto the design of the product, how a team would work around the limitations by the technology of their time and the process of implementing that into the product. Finally, testing and eventually maintaining the product to be used for years to come.
I hope to collaborate better and make meaningful connections with others to help team building skills for future employment as no one works one in this type of field since we would be working with big projects or that’s the hope anyway.
To the End and Beyond
All in all, my passion for software engineering and programming in general has been relit and I hope to keep it that way. I would like to keep solving this never ending puzzle that gets more complicated as time goes on.
From learning the software development cycle as with every step comes another step towards the ultimate goal of relief that it’s over. The cycle that never ends as when one comes to its conclusion another begins its simple roots. Whether or not the end product is considered good internally or externally I hope to be proud of everything I make.
I also hope to be proud of the team I work with fostering long lasting relationships that will go beyond college and into our work lives.