Prelude

Before I can even share what I hope to learn from CS3216, a more important question loomed before me:

How will I write this blog?

I pondered for a long while about the approach I wanted to adopt in writing this blog. How should I present myself in my writing? What do I want to achieve out of writing this blog besides fulfilling an academic requirement? My thoughts ran back and forth. Finally, I settled on a few points that will be a guide to my writing.

This blog will serve as a medium for my own reflections of CS3216 (and maybe even other things). I shall strive to be sincere in my own introspections. I hope to be able to share my perspective in a meaningful and insightful manner for myself and for others.

What I Hope To Learn From CS3216

I am a jack of all trades, herein lies my strength and also my weakness. This trait gives me the confidence to face challenges because my varied knowledge often provides me with a different perspective from others. It also gives me some insecurities because I know that for any subject, I lack the technical depth as compared to someone who has dedicated much time and effort to the subject. 

I go into CS3216 hoping to learn more about programming. Prior to university, I had no programming background. In fact, I was afraid and stayed away from it. It was only through the compulsory programming modules of CS1101C and CS1102C in Electrical Engineering that I got acquainted with programming. I found that I enjoyed them. I also found out that the more I learnt, the less I knew. There are many of my peers who already had an extensive background in programming, to the extent of being able to make money with their skills. I am about to meet some of them in CS3216. The thought is daunting. It appears to me that I have so much more to worry than they do. If I were to work on programming, I will only be the lesser among them.

Does anyone else feel like that in a similar way? I'll like to share a few ways in which I've coped with this feeling of insufficiency.

The first: I simply stop comparing myself with others. I focus on comparing my present self with my past self; planning my future self to be better than my present self. Work hard and keep improving. As long as I am making good progress, I should not be dissatisfied with myself.

The second: A few years ago, I read a piece of advice that said it is much more worthwhile to focus and develop one's core strengths than to focus on making up for one's weaknesses. I found this to be very helpful. So while I will be learning more about programming in the meantime during the module, one of my aims will also be to figure out how my strengths can best come into play in a CS3216 environment and similar situations. How can my strengths be used to create greater team synergy? In doing so, I will be able to better understand myself.

Note: A strength can be anything ranging from a technical skill to a personality trait. If you're an optimistic person and can infect others with optimism, that's a strength too! People sometimes don't think they have any outstanding strengths. I think it's really up to the individual to have belief and realise it himself or herself.

I hope to be able to gain an insight into the world of entrepreneurship and computer technology. I know only a little about each and hope that my perspectives can be broadened.

Lastly, the diversity of the students in CS3216 means that there's going to be many different things I can learn from each person. I think this course is going to be really exciting. I can already feel a little of the adrenaline running.

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Thanks for reading! I hope that some of the things I've said might have provided good food for thought. (For example, applying some of the questions I asked myself to yourself.) If it did, feel free to leave a comment. If you felt that some of the things I wrote was unhelpful or trash or unnecessary, let me know about this too so I can write better entries. Feedback is better than none!