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Midterm update

Life has been moving at high speed lately, especially with juggling full-time work, school, and family life. Despite the chaos, I’ve been making progress in my studies and am especially enjoying my current graphics class. I wouldn’t describe myself as someone naturally gifted in art, but learning OpenGL has been an unexpected source of enjoyment. It’s fascinating to see how much can be achieved with programming alone, transforming lines of code into visual, interactive 3D animations. I can see this skill coming in handy for both personal projects and professional work in data modeling and visualization, which is something I’m eager to explore.

Our current project for this class has been slow to get off the ground, which I chalk up to the typical challenges of getting any new initiative started. However, I’m genuinely excited about what we can accomplish with the app we’re developing. The potential impact of the project keeps me motivated, and I look forward to seeing our work unfold as we build out its core features. I think we’re just getting to the fun part, where everything starts to come together.

Alongside school and projects, I’m also trying to carve out time for job hunting. Transitioning from my current career into computer science is both thrilling and challenging, as I’m still figuring out exactly where I fit in this vast field. The balance between responsibilities sometimes makes this difficult, especially with an infant at home. I try to remind myself to stay patient and enjoy the learning process rather than stress over the end goal too much. Each class and each project is another step closer to becoming proficient in a field I’m truly passionate about.

This term has introduced me to a lot of new tools and technologies, each with their own learning curve. One life hack that has been working well for me is to take small, consistent steps, tackling each aspect of a project bit by bit rather than overwhelming myself. This approach, combined with a willingness to learn and adapt, has kept me going despite the occasional setbacks.

I’m excited for what’s next and look forward to continuing to develop both technically and creatively. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a way to combine my programming skills with my passion for data science and AI to create something truly unique and impactful in the future.

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Assignment Prompts

Blog Post #1

Greetings All,

My name is Trenton Schmidt, but Trent will do just fine. I was born and raised in Nebraska, and I currently reside in the capital city of Lincoln, which puts me in CST. I am married, have a relatively newborn girl, and we have a dog and a cat. Currently, I’m working full-time and going to school full-time, so my schedule has been pretty hectic the past two years. Now I added being a full-time parent to the list, so to say the least, now there’s even less free time (if that’s somehow possible).

In my free time before school started, and between terms now, I enjoy working on our house, on our cars and being outdoors. We are avid hikers and enjoy traveling to new places to explore. I also like to game here and there, mostly on the PC. Currently, I’m playing Planet Crafter, thanks to the wife for getting me hooked on that one!

I’ve always gravitated towards computers, and they were my favorite classes growing up. Right out of high school, I attended trade school to become a mechanic in the electromechanical space. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) were where I wanted to spend my time, and my first job out of college was a controls technician. After a career change to a medical maintenance field, I got away from programming and until recently I didn’t realize how much I missed it. This led to me going back to school to pursue my bachelors (and masters) in computer science.

It’s been a great experience so far as a student at OSU, and I’m looking forward to finishing up and getting my first software development job! I currently don’t know what that job looks like, but I am incredibly excited nevertheless. I’ve chosen to do the custom focus path for my degree and I’ve tailored it towards AI and data science. Likewise, I’m also in the Accelerated Masters Platform (AMP) program where I will be getting my masters of engineering, also focusing on AI.

I’ve been enjoying all the exposure to the different programming languages so far in my coursework. It feels like Python is the easiest for me to pick up and come back to when I’ve been learning other languages. That being said, I’ve really enjoyed getting practice at C/C++. Before starting my courses, I had no prior experience, and it feels like knowledge of C/C++ will be a major bonus when starting the job searching after school.

Reflecting on my projects thus far, I think my favorite project(s) so far have been either the website we created as part of Web Development (CS 290) or the Treasure Hunt app we created as part of Mobile Development (CS 492). Perhaps these were my favorite projects because I was able to produce a visual/tangible product that I was able to showcase to others. I suppose this should help with guiding how I might want to apply the AI aspect of my degree to a future job?