This is the first time I’ve really thought about completing this degree and what that means for me. I spent so long feeling the ubiquitous Imposter Syndrome, wondering if I had made the right decision in floundering through this program. Now, with the end clearly in sight, job offer accepted, and GPA only slightly damaged, I feel confident in both my decision to study CS and in my abilities as a computer scientist. The switch flipped! Recursion isn’t magic! _{but I would still rather not, thanks} Roughly 30% of development is just knowing the right phrases to string together in the Google search bar!*

^{* Not a real statistic}

Switching from Psychology to Computer Science was a big leap, and I started this program as a new mom in the middle of a global pandemic. I wasn’t sure that my social and emotional nature would jive well in the tech field, but I was burnt out on listening to clients present persistent problems that I could see clear solutions to and being completely unable to just fix it for them. Being home with my daughter seemed like the perfect time to go back to school and try something different. Developing software gives me the satisfaction that my work in the mental health field never did – I get to implement the solutions I come up with and see them come to fruition just by writing the instructions. Lines of code instead of endlessly repeating myself. Computers are much easier to fix than people.

Starting the Capstone project feels like starting the last chapter of a book. A very long book, like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix long. So much has changed since I applied to this program two years ago personally, academically, and in the world as a whole adjusting to pandemic and now post-pandemic life. I’m ready to close this one out and move on to the next big adventure as an Implementation Consultant!