CST 300 Final Presentation

I participated in the first weeks presentation for CST 300 with Karen Wisdom.  I'm glad I was able to get it over with on the first week.  Not only did I get it over with but I was able to start on my paper in the process.  I don't have too much of my paper but I have some of it.  This week I was able to catch up with a lot of my projects and homework.  It relieves me of stress that I had and allows me to focus on what's important, my projects.  Now that I have my presentation over with I can focus on my Internet Programming class and get the coding started.  I'm also able start my homework I have on Byun's homework.

Highlight of the week was my internship.  I had my second day Tuesday and am really learning a lot.  My first day consisted of quality assurance and I didn't feel like I was being challenged.  I think that they felt that and because of that, they switched my job.  Now I have a really interesting project that I have no idea how to do but know I can.  I can't wait to get started on it next week.  In preparation for that day I'm going to research the subject and learn the basics so that I have an understanding of what I'm getting into.

Friday

This was an interesting week.  I started my first day at my internship.  Language lines services is a nice company and it's close to home.  I'm looking forward to this summer because I'll be able to work full time.  Every company has something to offer and I hope I gain knowledge from this company.  I started this past Tuesday and they have me doing Quality assurance work.  They have an old system they used for quite some time and they're merging all that data onto a new system.  My job is to go in both systems and compare the information for each account.  I have to make sure that the old data was moved over to the new system and then I have to call the system to make sure the new data works out properly.  It was a good first day and I'm definitely looking forward to the others.

We're coming closer to the last couple of weeks of the semester.  I feel like I'm always trying to catch up with my assignments.  I'm in the CSIT-in-3 cohort and I can't afford not to pass a class.  The class I'm worried about is my CST 300 class.  We have tons of reading and assignments and I have to constantly check to see if something is due.  I have so many projects going on at one time and I'm always playing catch up.  This is by far is the most difficult semester I've had so far and I'm looking forward to the next spring semester, my last.

7 Habits of highly effective people

Being able to live a more meaningful and fulfilling lifestyle.  That's success.  Whether your rich or not I think that your success comes from happiness.  I'd be happy with the 2 million in the bank that's accumulating 4% every year, I'd be happy with that.  

I was talking about the definition of success and we came up with a different definition.  It's being able to be debt free, travel around the world, and have enough money in the bank to do things with your family.  That's our definition of success.  I personally want to be able to go on vacation with my family for a month and still have my job when I come back.  I think leaving to another country would be nice too.  Leaving to Spain for a year would be nice to do, that or another country.  

We had a good lecture about knowledge and skills.  My definition of knowledge is knowing things in theory and knowing things out of practice is when you have the skills.  

We also went over what our definition of habits are.  I think that habits are things you do repetitively and natural.  It's not a habit if you have to forcefully do it.  Habits are things you do repetitively.

7 habits of highly successful people is a really good book.  I read it about 7 years ago and it was really helpful.  It helps you see things differently and shows you what to do to get to those goals.  I think that one of the most important habits is sharpening the saw.  Especially in the tech world we're going in to we need to always sharpen the saw because there are so many new languages that are going to be released and we need to keep that competitive edge.  

One minute video

I've created a video, well more of a rough draft to a better video.  Basically, I introduce myself and talk a little about the program that I'm in.  I'm in a 3 year program created by Hartnell College and and California State University of Monterey Bay.  I also talked a little about me being a Computer Science Major with an emphasis in Software Engineering.  It was only about 30seconds to 1 minute
so I couldn't pack to much information about myself in that amount of time.  I then went on to talk a little about the languages that I've learned along with several languages that I want to learn.  This was an interesting assignment because I've never seen myself on video and now know what I look like when I'm up on stage giving a presentation.  Overall this was a good assignment and made me really want to practice more before presentations.  

One minute video

Silicon Valley

Today's presentation is one of my favorite presentations so far.  We had Jacob Heuser come in from the Silicon Valley and he talked several topics however, the talk about finances was most interesting to me.  I've always wanted to make six figures and now that I'm studying CS, six figures is tangible.  Jacob explained what the pro's and cons were when making that 100 thousand salary.  For starters he said that you would make 100 thousand but the cost of living in San Francisco is higher.  Small apartments can go for $4,000 dollars.  That makes a big difference in how you live.  It might be better to commute from Gilroy or somewhere closer that doesn't cost as much to offset living expenses.  I still think I'd take a job in San Francisco to have that on my resume and so that I can possibly get a better paying job closer to home.  It's a sacrifice I'd be willing to take.  Another thing Jacob talked about was planning your future.  Some people move around from job to job trying to make more money but sometimes it's better to just stay where you're at for a couple more years and get that experience so you can take it with you to the next company.  I agree with that.  I plan to get the most out of my job as I can so that I can move on to the next with the most knowledge as I can.  I have to build the most self worth as I can working where ever I end up.

Beyond Undergrad

In today's Friday lecture we learned about graduate programs and the preparation it takes to get there. Of all the lectures this Friday's was my favorite.  It was my favorite because I learned a large amount of information regarding the graduate school process.  I didn't know when to start applying to these programs and would have probably started the application process to late.  Now I know that I need to start prepping for the application process as early as this summer.  That goes for studying and prepping for the examinations that I'll have to take.  That's another thing I learned.  I didn't know that there were different examinations that I had to take depending on which major I decided to pursue.  I'm not sure what program I'll go into next but I feel like I want to take the Berkeley data science program.  I feel that taking that program will really help launch my career.  If I don't go to that I'd like to take the IT management program that CSUMB has.   Another really useful piece of information that I learned was that I probably shouldn't try to get my Phd.  There's no big difference in money in comparison with a bachelor or masters.   Being an effective team member is really important because it might help in the future.  It's what could make you or break you.  An example of what not to do is what the lady that Professor Tao was going to hire.  She didn't get hired because she wasn't an effective team member.  She met all the other requirements except for that one, one of the most important qualities a potential employee should have.

Reflect time management

After reading the time management strategies I learned that it's useful to use blocks to close off big chunks of time for certain task or events.  I currently use this strategy in my calendar planner that I have on my phone.  I have my computer's calendar linked to my phone.  What I did was block off all the time I'm in classes and the description of all those classes.  I also have the study times blocked of along with my Friday Cohort Enrichment.  

Another thing that I read on the article that I already do is prioritize my assignments.  So that I don't fall behind I use the sticky notes application that I have on my Mac and post sticky notes with descriptions of the assignments that I need to complete or that I need to review.  The high priority assignments are the ones that I put on the sticky notes because they're the first thing I see when I open my laptop. 

I think I'm pretty good at identifying resources to help me.  I'm constantly getting help from the tutors.  I was derailed for a bit with the transition to CSUMB from Hartnell and I really took of advantage of the tutors time by meeting with them once a week in order to  catch up.  

Previous Capstones

I really like Caroline Mountford's Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System project.  I think it's awesome that a CSUMB student is doing something that big.  The website looks and feels professional and is something I want to learn how to do.  I can make websites now but I haven't spent enough time to try and create a real professional looking website.  

Another Capstone that I really liked was the one by Jevgenia Smorgun who is a Frameworks Developer at Apple Computer.  Another awesome success story by a CSUMB alumni.  The meetings she talks about seem to be SCRUM meetings.  I'm interested in working for a company so that I could be part of these meetings.  Sounds weird but I like the idea of sharing ideas, progress, and roadblocks.  One of the biggest lessons I got from Caroline is that it's not a good idea to try to be a jack of all trades.  Pick something and master it.  Work for a company that will allow to grow on what your good at, employers love masters.  We're all genius at something, we just have to find out what it is.  

Preview Project Management

There are many reasons that organizations use project management.  Here are a couple examples of how proper project management can help:

• To improve part communication
• Improve assessment of project performance
• Increased understanding of the project and its purpose

A good project manager has a wide array of skills, tools, techniques and knowledge.  The project manager has to have these gifts because it's up to this person to create scope, time, cost, and risk assessment of the project, amongst other things.

Individual Learning Plan

Today we had a speaker talk about Individual learning plans.  The speaker talked about catalog rights and how they work.  She discussed that if your catalog said you had 5 classes left in 2012 and its 2014 but the new catalog says you have 10 classes, you only have to do five classes because that's what your original catalog says.  We also learned today that C- is not enough to move forward to the next class, you can repeat 16 units, and withdraw 18 units.  If and when you feel you want to change majors you have to get approval from the dean.  Ms. Dublin was very informative and taught us many things that we were not aware of.

Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart

Mariela Ceja and I created a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.  We created the work breakdown structure using lucidChart through Google drive.  It's a fun and easy way to create charts of all sorts.  It wasn't very difficult at all considering lucidChart has a beautiful platform for creating charts.  I wasn't keeping track of time but I would guess that it took an hour to create one of the charts.  The other was about 20 minutes since we already had a feel for the process.  The difference with the Gantt chart was that I had to do it on excel.  I couldn't find anything online to create it so I used another Google drive item.  Overall it was a great learning experience and I'm thinking of purchasing the lucidChart subscription so that I can use all of it's components.

Work Breakdown Structure

Gantt Chart

Interview Do's and Don'ts

Today we learned the do's and don'ts of interviewing.  There were many topics discussed in today's class.  Instructor Karen went over proper attire to wear for an interview.  She explained the difference between different states.  One of the examples she used was New York.  She pointed out something that I have seen before but never paid attention to it and that was that all business people in New York wear suits.  She said that it's a little different here in California because the people and industries here are more relaxed.  It's okay to walk in to google in some jeans.  As a matter of fact, now that I think of it, last time I was at Google on a field trip everybody wore jeans and t-shirts.  Even though the employees there wear jeans and t-shirts you should still go to your interview in a suit and tie because you want to show that your a professional person and are serious about working for that specific company.  One thing I never thought of and was mentioned today was that you shouldn't drink coffee or wear cologne because not everybody likes those smells.  In order to be considerate and to prevent being judged on the smell of coffee or your taste of colognes it's better to just not drink or wear it.

Friday Lecture

We learned about the technology used in today's gaming industry.  Something that was really interesting was that the speaker mentioned that some of the game makers he spoke about were from California State University of Monterey Bay.  It's nice to see someone graduate from the same school and accomplish big projects.  The most interesting games that I saw was the one that had a big emphasis on art.  It was a black and white game where the user or person playing the game has to continue to find light before it gets dark.  It was beautifully designed and had a good theme as well story.  It was also nice to Professor Tao speak about time management.  I know I lack some of these skills and it's good to see a professionals schedule to see how he manages his private and educational life.

Graphic Design

Today we had a talk about keeping a schedule that you can rely on at all times.  Professor talked about how he creates room for his family and school work.  I really liked how he makes it a point to create a group conversation with his father and siblings to keep everybody together and in contact.  I also like how he makes time everyday to make sure his kids play the piano and he also sits with them to show support and reinforce what it is to be a family.

The second half of the class was a talk about graphic design and our speakers journey through life.  I really enjoyed this talk because I admired her ability to adapt to new environments and stick to her guns.  She took the path less taken and is an inspirational person to all those that seek to follow that same path or tread their own.

Preview Time Management Skills

Review and reflect learning strategy

When studying I feel I'm good at getting the main idea, extracting important details, and outlining textbooks. I went through a phase in my life where I read a lot of books. In order to remember quotes or sentences that I thought were structured in a way I could learn from, I used to underline them. However, that didn't stand out as much as highlighting so I changed my note taking habits. It was easier to extract ideas and get the main point when highlighting rather than underlining.


I'm not very good at finding a place to study, knowing when to study, and making and revising a schedule. I have two kids at home and there's nowhere to hide because I'm always helping with something. I found that the best time to study is after they sleep and that's not till after 9 when I'm tired and not retaining everything I read. One of my biggest flaws is that I'm not very organized. I've purchased calendars to try to fix this but it ended up empty.

Review Learning Portfolios

I really liked Amit Panchal's ILP Portfolio.  I like it because it was nice and clean.  What I mean by that is that it's not black like some of the others I saw online.  I think that white or light grey really makes a website look professional and that's what I liked most about this website.  What I didn't like was it was created by Weebly.  I saw that Mr. Panchal took an Internet Programming class but chose to use a pre-made template.  I feel like he took the easy way out.  Here's a link to his website.


Another website I liked was made by Nelson Lee.  I liked this website for the same reasons as Amit's. However, I liked this one a bit more and I think it was because of the professional photo of Nelson. The only flaw that I saw was that it to was created on Weebly when he too has taken an Internet Programming class.  Here's a link to his website.

Review degree learning pathways

After reviewing the Communication Design and Computer Science and Information Technology degree pathways I reaffirmed commitment to Computer Science and Information Technology.  I'm part of the CSIT-In-3 program and know that this is where I belong.  I love coding more than I enjoy design.  However, I did notice that there were many classes that overlapped between both majors.  A class that I'm really looking forward to is Intro to Database Systems.  I feel that this is the class that will help me decide if I want to get my Masters in Information and Data Science.  This degree is offered at Berkeley as an online degree and it’s the first of it’s kind there at that school.  I don't know much about the subject but I do know that there is a big demand for people with these skills.  More and more companies need data scientists to sift through extremely large amounts of data and make sense of it.  This is what's giving companies the competitive edge that they need.  It’s the understanding of databases that allows websites we revisit to make recommendations to us as users.  I want to be on a team that does that.  I want to help write the algorithm makes recommendations based on the database of your previous transactions or online history.  Another class I'm looking forward to is the Capstone.  I'm looking forward to this because I have a business idea that I've been wanting to work on but haven't had the time because of all the classes I take.  This is the opportunity, if possible to get that project up and running.  Not only do I get to start the project but I get to start it professionally and in the proper real world way. Overall the this assignment was very useful in broadening my understanding of both majors.  I’m really looking forward to a bright future as a Software Engineer.