Path To Independence

02 Sep 2021

How I got into CS

I changed my major to computer science from business within 3 weeks after I entered college. Call it intuition but I really can’t explain what compelled me to do this. Part of me thought that a buisiness degree really won’t get me anywhere in life, another part of me just thought that the classes I was taking were simply common sense. Whatever the reason, as I got older and took more classes, I realized how hard programming is and sometimes it gets really stressful. But the thing is, I never saw it as a burden, it gets stressful at times but I felt motivated. And that’s how I know I made the right decision.

What skills do I need?

Coding doesn’t really come to me intuitively, I have a weakness in comprehension, so reading about how to code is like a cow reading a book. Most of the time I find myself practicing the malicious “trial and error” way of solving a problem with code. That’s why as a programmer, one really need to pick up the masterful skill of patience. Programming something is easy, understanding how code works is a whole ‘nother subject. It doesn’t matter how many skills you list on your resume, if you can’t explain to the employer how a piece of code behaves, then all those skills are as good as nothing. I would rather have one skill on my resume but absolutely excel in that aspect then to list every language existing and only know how to code loops.

What experiences am I looking for?

I have applied to many jobs in the software development field, but most companies just ghosted me. I suspect it’s because of my insufficient, or even non-existing experiences. Not only do I not have any experiences in this field, I also do not have any projects that I can put on my resume as well. I hope that ICS 314 can provide me the fundamentals of software development. Whether it’s JavaScript or web development, what I am really looking for is the process and teamwork required to build something from scratch. I want to experience the work flow of software devlopment like I would in a real job, that way, even if I do not have any job experiences, I can at least be confident for what is to come.