Trent's Blog

Life has been moving at high speed lately, especially with juggling full-time work, school, and family life. Despite the chaos, I’ve been making progress in my studies and am especially enjoying my current graphics class. I wouldn’t describe myself as someone naturally gifted in art, but learning OpenGL has been an unexpected source of enjoyment. It’s fascinating to see how much can be achieved with programming alone, transforming lines of code into visual, interactive 3D animations. I can see this skill coming in handy for both personal projects and professional work in data modeling and visualization, which is something I’m eager to explore.

Our current project for this class has been slow to get off the ground, which I chalk up to the typical challenges of getting any new initiative started. However, I’m genuinely excited about what we can accomplish with the app we’re developing. The potential impact of the project keeps me motivated, and I look forward to seeing our work unfold as we build out its core features. I think we’re just getting to the fun part, where everything starts to come together.

Alongside school and projects, I’m also trying to carve out time for job hunting. Transitioning from my current career into computer science is both thrilling and challenging, as I’m still figuring out exactly where I fit in this vast field. The balance between responsibilities sometimes makes this difficult, especially with an infant at home. I try to remind myself to stay patient and enjoy the learning process rather than stress over the end goal too much. Each class and each project is another step closer to becoming proficient in a field I’m truly passionate about.

This term has introduced me to a lot of new tools and technologies, each with their own learning curve. One life hack that has been working well for me is to take small, consistent steps, tackling each aspect of a project bit by bit rather than overwhelming myself. This approach, combined with a willingness to learn and adapt, has kept me going despite the occasional setbacks.

I’m excited for what’s next and look forward to continuing to develop both technically and creatively. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a way to combine my programming skills with my passion for data science and AI to create something truly unique and impactful in the future.