This semester has been quite the experience for me. I started out with the intention of producing an enormous amount of code while also practicing the skills of leadership and project management. My primary focus overall, though, was the goal of growth, that I would be leaving this course with a significant amount of experience, new technical skills, and further developed management and communication skills.
Despite starting this project hitting the ground running, I encountered a resurgence of an injury that has limited my ability to do what I sought out to do fully. I had no choice but to pull back on computer intensive activities and had to adapt to a new way of looking at this project. I originally felt demoralized, frustrated, and disappointed over the perceived lack of opportunity and increased limitations. However, as I attempted to find ways to adapt to this new reality without throwing in the towel, I redefined what growth would mean in this experience, thus redefining what success would mean as well.
In order to make sure I was doing my fair share for this project, I came up with ways that I could aid and support them so that they can purely focus on the development process of the project. They are all hardworking, ambitious, and talented developers who have produced high quality work that has our sponsor pleased with our progress. In fact, he is surprised with how much work our team has produced and has expressed to us that we have exceeded expectations at this point in this project timeline.
Wanting to honor my team’s hard work, I decided to take over tasks that are not too intensive with computer work but would make my teammates’ lives easier. I have learned how to use Davicini resolve, an editing software that I have never used before. In fact, before this course I had zero experience editing videos. Not only have I been able to use this skill to edit our progress report videos, but I will also be able to utilize these new editing skills to put together a professional final demo video for our project. I have also been getting a head start on the finals week assignments. By deeply examining the requirements ahead of time, I have been able to explain to my team exactly what they will solely be responsible for during these assignments by preparing documents that organize and communicate their future work expectations.
As for the communication front, I have been handling all outside communication, such as attending the UI design meeting on behalf of my team, communicating with the sponsor about NDA limitations, and keeping in contact with the UI designer about the color theme. I have been scheduling all meetings and making sure all teammates are getting recordings or notes of the meeting.
Essentially, I am doing the busy work and handling all of the organizational and communication mental load, so that my technically capable team can develop an even more robust and well implemented product for our sponsor.
Through all of this, I have had a breakthrough that, while impediments can impact a project and what one can do to contribute to one, there are ways to adapt and still find your role on a team. A team requires not just technical work, but somebody who can communicate with clients, and keep the team organized as a whole. With every loss of opportunity is a chance to create another one. And I think I have learned through this challenge how to take this unforeseen circumstance, and find other ways to adapt and other skills to learn or improve upon in order to still do my part and contribute to a high quality product.
This breakthrough has also shown me that I have a skillset that I might be taking for granted. I love the challenges of planning and organizing. I enjoy communicating with others and working with people from all backgrounds with varied personalities and skill sets. I am detail oriented and good at forecasting into the future. It doesn’t hurt that I also have a love of learning new skills and can adapt to any situation if need be without throwing my hands in the air and giving up.
Not only are there things to analyze about myself and my experience as a member of my team working with an industry sponsor, but there are also many aspects of this course to reflect upon.
My favorite aspect of this course so far was how we were given the option to work on a real industry project. I had not expected that would be an option going into this course, and I was pleasantly surprised to get this opportunity. Working on a product that will ultimately help local governments and fire departments to better determine need for emergency services feels immensely purposeful and rewarding. It has given me the chance to improve my communication skills with not just my student team but also with outside clients and professionals.
Another aspect of this course that I have found to be beneficial is the feedback and support of the TAs and instructor. Our team’s TA has given us valuable feedback on our weekly reports, and has responded to our questions in a timely manner. Also, when I first encountered my resurgence of pain issues and communicated with my TA and instructor, they provided me with support that made me feel more optimistic and capable. Being reminded that I can contribute in ways that had nothing to do with coding motivated me to keep going. Additionally, being informed of the option of having an incomplete grade that could prevent me from having to fail or withdraw from the course was useful and reassuring. Having this kind of support when you are dealing with challenges that are demoralizing and frustrating can make all the difference in one’s learning journey and academic success. I feel incredibly grateful!
In contrast to the strengths of this course, the only weakness is something that the instructors, students, and TAs have no control over, and that is the remote nature of the course. It is far more difficult to form relationships remotely, whether it be with your team, your TAs, or your instructors. It is also more difficult to work across different time zones. However, despite this limitation for the course, it is still valuable to learn how to work remotely, as many jobs these days are purely remote, so this weakness is minor compared to the strengths.
In the spirit of growth and success,I feel as if there is an opportunity here for the course in expanding how many sponsored industry projects can be offered during this course. It could give even more students an opportunity to work on real projects in the software industry, where they can get experience working on a real codebase, learning about other industries that intersect with technology, and working with clients outside of their team. If I could change anything about this course, that would be it.
There is one issue that could impact the quality of this work from what I can tell, and that is the possibility of having teammates that do not contribute to the project nor care about the success of the team as a whole. While I was lucky in that I have been matched up with an excellent team, I am sure not everybody has that experience. In work environments, while there are workers who lag behind others, there is still a threat of losing a job on the line, which provides an extrinsic motivation to at least do some of your part. In contrast, when a student is taking a course, if they have a lack of concern about their performance or have a bit of “senioritis”, there is little extrinsic or intrinsic incentive to put out high quality work. Thus in some sense, the experience of this class could be a game of russian roulette.
However, this is the nature of any course in any major that requires group work, and is expected when one takes on a course of this nature. PLainly, it comes with the territory.
Overall, this class has been a positive experience that has provided me with the opportunity to grow and challenge myself. I am grateful for the chance to work with a diligent and talented team, and to have the chance to learn from instructors and TAs who are invested in our success, and I hope my peers, as well as future students, are able to experience similar significant breakthroughs and successes.
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