Adam Bell

Big Things are Coming

18 Jan 2024

What Software Engineering Means to Me

Since I began my journey to become a software engineer, I have found the process of writing code very rewarding. Although there are times when I may be trying to fix an error and growing frustrated with not being able to solve it, when I finally find the solution and everything works as intended, it’s very satisfying. In these moments, I realized I have a passion for computer science, programming, and software engineering. Even though the projects I have completed are relatively small, after completing them I felt really happy. I think as I continue my career path and take on larger and larger projects, this gratifying feeling will only become greater. I am very excited to see what kind of projects I will accomplish and where my career will go.

Skills and Experiences

Some skills I want to develop over the next couple of years include improved proficiency in industry-standard programming languages like JavaScript, Python, C++, etc. There are many other skills that are necessary to be a successful software engineer, such as being able to collaborate effectively, problem-solving, and having a good understanding of algorithms and data sciences. I think all of these are very important to succeed in the field of software engineering. As far as experiences I am hoping to have, I would like to focus on some larger-scale projects that really test my skills and knowledge as a software engineer. I am also hoping to work on projects collaboratively with other students to model real-world work experience.

My Interests in Software Engineering

Throughout my education in computer science, I have really only focused on front-end/web-development programming languages. I enjoy this side of programming, specifically the user interface aspect of writing code. It’s really fun to write up code and see the changes you’ve made. I am more attracted to this than the ‘back-end’ server-side of programming, although this may not be fair of me to say, since I have not really been exposed to any languages that deal with the back-end. Thankfully, this semester I am taking a class focused on C, which will be great experience and exposure for me. So while I love the front-end, I may have my opinions change as I continue to learn more.