Welcome to my first post! My name is Eriko and I am OSU Post-Baccalaureate Computer Science student. I am originally from Tokyo, Japan and moved to United States in 2013 with only conversational level English. I was lucky enough to get my first job here in the US, but none of the opportunities that existed for me were challenging at that time. I was only able to find work for admin/operation positions that required a Japanese speaking ability. I wanted to have a job that was challenging, rewarding, and something that I could keep learning. That’s when I started to look into this computer science program!  

My CS journey started back in the summer of 2020, and it has been a long journey! Before I joined this program, I wanted to know whether I like programming or not, so I started learning programming by using freecodecamp. I soon got obsessed with their projects and spent many hours working on the various projects they offered. I completed the freecodecamp certification in four months and decided to move forward to join this OSU program. 

A little after I started the OSU program, I was able to get an internship position as a software engineer. The first year was very challenging, because I jumped into a large code base from with only my limited knowledge from freecodecamp and introduction to computer science I&II. I learned how to read and write good code every day. At the same time, I learned the fundamentals of computer science at school. Working on assignments was very time consuming, and it was challenging especially after being exhausted from work. However, it was interesting and rewarding to learn as I handled some real issues at work. That feeling gave me more energy and kept me learning everyday. For example, I was using an SQL database at work everyday but not everything fully clicked me until I took the introduction to databases class. I felt very fortunate that I was able to learn from school and work at the same time.

Now I work as a software engineer (no more intern!) and this is my last semester at OSU. I am excited to work on the last project, and I will continue to update my blog as my journey continues with my last quarter here at OSU.