My First Blog Post!

Hey everyone! 

This is my first blog post for my capstone course for the software engineering bachelor’s degree program at Oregon State. It is funny, because this will be the first time I have wrote anything about my experience since starting, and now here I am right at the end! 

Here is a retrospective take on where I have been in this program: 

• What got you started with computers or software?

The COVID pandemic is where everything started. I had worked into the career I had wanted with my original degree by working in healthcare/socialwork. However, I realized after 2-3 years in that it really was not for me. I was trying to pivot my career into Hospital Informatics and had some difficulty with the small size of that industry and found a forum where someone had the same experience and mentioned considering software engineering instead. They said there were more jobs and the pay was better. I took some Freecodecamp courses and realized I really enjoyed programming and focused my attention on there. 

• Current job or internship

Right now I work as an SWE intern at Tandem Diabetes. 

• Your future career

I would love to work full-time at the company I am interning at. I love the niche market of health/medical oriented software because of how meaningful the work is. 

• Favorite technologies

I thoroughly enjoy front-end technologies like React, JavaScript, HTML/CSS because of the instant feedback you get from the work you are creating. 

• New technologies

I am looking to learn more TypeScript, as it seems to be an industry favorite for working on production level code in the industry for any front-end work. 

• Favorite listed projects (in this course) and why

Mobile app development has been my favorite class so far. The class was so well structured, and building the projects really cemented some topics from previous classes, like type declaration or class structure, that has given me a much better working knowledge of programming in general. 

• Current interests

My wife and are big foodies. Whenever we have the chance, we love to go into town and try out a trendy new restaurant or coffee shop. Then, whenever we aren’t eating or working, getting outside in nature is always important. 

• Journey with OSU

I have enjoyed the experience overall. Being able to do all my work remotely, has allowed me to have a lot more freedom with my life that would otherwise have been very difficult.

• This course (feedback is always appreciated!)

This course has been great so far!