Trent's Blog

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.

Greetings Everyone,

Life continues to keep me on my toes with work, school, and family responsibilities, but I’m pushing through and learning to adapt to the juggling act. Our class project is progressing, albeit slower than I initially hoped. As a team, we’ve faced some of the typical challenges that come with starting a new initiative—aligning on goals, splitting responsibilities, and keeping momentum going. Despite the slow start, I’m optimistic. We recently decided to narrow down the feature set to focus on creating a strong MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This feels like the right move to ensure we build a solid foundation before tackling our “wish list” items. I’m hopeful that as we continue, our team will hit its stride and work together more seamlessly.

On the career front, I have some exciting news—I have a data scientist job interview this week! Transitioning to a career in data science has been a goal of mine since I began this program, so I’m thrilled to have this opportunity. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to take such a significant step, especially since it represents a complete career shift for me. That said, I’m confident that the skills I’ve built in school, particularly in AI and data modeling, will help me shine. This field offers endless opportunities to combine programming with problem-solving and creativity, which is precisely what drew me to it in the first place.

One thing I’ve come to appreciate during this term is the importance of managing stress and staying organized. Between class projects, assignments, and family life with a newborn, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. A life hack that has really worked for me is time-blocking my schedule and being realistic about what I can achieve in a day. I’ve also started keeping a “lessons learned” journal for projects—logging what worked, what didn’t, and ideas for improvement. It’s been a simple but effective way to streamline my process and reduce frustration.

When it comes to coursework, I’ve been impressed with the sheer variety of technologies we’re exposed to. This term, I’ve especially enjoyed diving deeper into graphics programming. OpenGL has been a fantastic challenge, and it’s amazing to see how math and code can produce interactive 3D visuals. This is a skill I’d love to leverage in the future, whether for data visualization, game development, or even creative personal projects. The possibilities feel endless, and that’s what keeps me motivated.

As we wrap up the term, I’m looking forward to continuing to develop my technical skills while refining the collaborative aspects of our class project. The slow start has been frustrating at times, but I know this experience will teach me valuable lessons about teamwork and prioritization. And who knows? With my upcoming job interview and a renewed focus on my goals, this might just be the start of something great.

Here’s to finishing strong and embracing the opportunities ahead!

Cheers,
Trent

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?