Category: Uncategorized

Job Hunting

Above picture represents my experience trying to put together any progress in landing an internship or entry level role for next year, as a developer or anything cybersecurity related. As I assume anyone reading this blog post knows, it is brutal right now for people trying to get their first jobs in tech. It seems the market is saturated right now with fresh graduates competing with thousands of other candidates for their first dev jobs. There are simply too many people and not enough jobs right now, especially for internships. I have had my resume looked over by friends and acquaintances that work in industry and have received great feedback on it being near perfect, yet I get little to no responses from job applications.

In this current climate, all I can do is try to keep improving my skillset and hopefully make myself more marketable to employers. I lack actual developer experience aside from what I’ve done in school (build build build). I also need to improve my LeetCode skills, as most companies seem to want you to be able to work through a few medium-hard problems in a short window of time before you can even talk to a recruiter or person from the company (I’ve had a few of these screenings now and they have not been great). Between attempting to build projects outside of schoolwork, getting better at LeetCode, and networking for jobs here in Silicon Valley, I have plenty to keep me busy between now and graduation in about a year.

Wrapping up 461 (Senior Capstone Project l)

The first term for the Senior Capstone project has been great overall, and it far exceeded expectations. I went into it with quite a bit of fear and anticipation, and it ended up being not what I expected at all. The workload is not bad at all, and there are nice helpful videos and lectures added to the modules throughout the term. The first term in this sequence is mostly all just planning, and getting the bare bones of the project going and ready to start for next term.

The last couple modules give some good info on perfecting one’s resume, and getting better prepared for job interviews. Both the instructor and the TA’s seem available and ready to help at any given time (even during the big strike going on).

Finally done with 373 (Defense Against the Dark Arts)

Again, I will try to focus on the positives from this class. This was one I knew was time consuming going into it, and many of us in the class were a bit hyped up around the name of the course. Some of the labs and homework we did were really interesting, such as using a buffer overflow to take over control of an application on a Windows XP VM, or working with hardware for the first time using a Teensy Board loaded with a hex program, then analyzing soldered pins for signals with different protocols on a Logic program. We also got a ton of experience using different systems on a variety of virtual machines, and lots of terminal experience pretty much every one of those times as well.

It turns out we were the last group of students that will take CS373 in its current form, as a full revamp is supposed to take place after this term. This course at up about 90% of my time each week that I set aside for school, so, to 373 I say – bon voyage!

PS – Goodbye to my awesome Astronomy course and lab I am finishing up for a needed GE science requirement. Truly fascinating field of study, I highly recommend checking it out to anyone that has the opportunity to do so!

My journey as a computer science student began about 4 years ago. I have been working for a small medical company for the last 8 years or so, we specialize in anesthesia systems, for research, private practice, and human use. Over time I grew a bit bored and stagnant in this job, and had always wanted to go back to school to get a higher education. One could say I fall into the non-traditional category of students, as I am in my mid 30s, and almost nobody in my entire family has a formal education beyond high school.

I grew up and have lived in the bay area, right in the heart of Silicon Valley, my whole life. Most of my immediate family still lives in my home town which is on the coast, about 25 minutes south of San Francisco. Living where I do, I feel I am pretty exposed to the ‘tech way of life’, as it seems most the people that live on the peninsula here nowadays are folks that have moved here from all over the country and world for tech jobs.

I wasn’t sure which major I would choose at the time, and had an interest in business administration. One of my best friends is a former software engineer that got his Masters in EE from Stanford, and he encouraged me to try out some coding courses online to see how I liked it. I started out with a Python course offered through Coursera, that was taught by a University of Michigan professor, if my memory serves. I was enthralled with the challenges and mental stimulation of programming pretty quickly. A few of those things that kept me in this field that I discovered early in my programming journey, I still feel the same about today, and they help motivate me to stay on this challenging endeavor of a path.

Rather quickly from that point, I decided to start out at community college as a CS major, fully online as this was the first year into the pandemic. After almost finishing up my Associates degree in CS, I decided I was going to stay a fully online student and transfer to finish my last two years of undergrad. Surprisingly there weren’t many decent universities in California that offered a bachelors in CS fully online. After extensive searching and research, I discovered that Oregon State was clearly my best option, and transferred over at the start of 2023.

I recently switched my minor/focus area from business to a custom build – mostly cybersecurity along with a few business courses. I took the ‘Intro to CyberSecurity’ course over the summer, it was challenging, but one of my favorite courses I’ve taken so far.

As my focus area is now cybersecurity, and I am taking the notorious Defense Against the Dark Arts course this term, I would like to pick a project that is related, if possible. Other areas of interest for me include AI (mainly because it seems to stick out on a resume more than anything these days), and front-end development for web apps, as I probably have more experience in this area compared to many others.

Some other things that I feel are tied to my identity these days are my two adorable cats, my passion and love for the sport of tennis, my love of travel, my insistence to chase goals and strive for a growth mindset.

“There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

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