Strange, isn’t it? No more syllabus quiz, introduction discussion boards, finding teams channels… This is really the last time my classmates and I start a semester as CS undergraduates. Many of my peers have jobs lined up, waiting for them as soon as they walk across the stage (although the walking may be more metaphoric than literal, if you live across the country like I do). Some are in the midst of interviews, chatting with recruiters, and have an idea of where they would like to be. Others are like me, facing all the options we have and having no idea where to start.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being in this situation — having so many path options that I never even considered — is the best problem to bare. I graduated with my first degree, a BA in physics, and, being honest, wasn’t a great student. Working hard felt optional, and, being young, I assumed jobs, money, and opportunity would fall into my lap if I just passed my classes. Yeah…not quite how it works, huh? I had few appealing options that didn’t require graduate school of one kind or another, and graduate school felt like the kind of thing you do when you know what you want to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With no options seeming right for me, I took a job at the local university and decided to devote my spare time to finding what\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>right for me. That was when I tried some free online coding courses. Hooked, I was! Not long after, I applied for this program and set course for a BS in CS.\u00a0<\/p>\n In early 2020, I decided I had enough skills to reach out to another team at the university I was working under, and see if I could help in their efforts. On this whim, I emailed the lab manager, and was touring the lab to start before I knew it. They had need for a computer science student to take over the work their previous one had left after graduating.<\/p>\n This ended up being a fantastic match for me. This lab does UAV drone research, and has given me the chance to work not only on drones, but also hand-made sensors, data-logging, and more. Recently, a partner and I finished a system that will be installed at, and used by the Cincinnati airport, then perhaps eventually the San Francisco airport to better understand fog conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n My current job, in tandem with the education I’ve received from OSU, has made me feel confident that I’ll do well wherever I go next. I have no idea where that place will be, but I’m finally starting to feel like an engineer — that there is surely a place I’ll thrive as an engineer — and it’s an amazing feeling!\u00a0<\/p>\n I’m looking forward to one more major project as a student before I start what I’m confident will be a rewarding career.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to the last Week 1 Strange, isn’t it? No more syllabus quiz, introduction discussion boards, finding teams channels… This is really the last time my classmates and I start a semester as CS undergraduates. Many of my peers have jobs lined up, waiting for them as soon as they walk across the stage (although… Continue reading if (visitor){ printf(“Welcome!”)}<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11948,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11948"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/bartonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}