I submitted my last assignment at Oregon State this week. I have some feelings about it — pride, relief, uncertainty about the tech jobs market, optimistic anticipation — but they’re all pretty muted so far. I’m sure it will settle in as I catch up on neglected household chores and start living life like a normal person again.
Speaking of a normal life, I hardly remember what that’s like. When I started, I knew I would have to make sacrifices to succeed as a student with a full-time job. A lot of things I took for granted have been in maintenance mode, from my physical health to dearly held friendships. I am very ready to see more concerts, do some multi-day bike rides, and reconnect with my pals.
What’s next (professionally)
Now I start on more personal portfolio projects and moonlighting as a web developer. Here’s what I have on the docket to flesh out some skillsets:
- Drake Equation Calculator: interactive Dash app that will update calculation based on user input. Goals are to practice Dash callbacks, implement Tailwind CSS framework, and manage a user interface that requires several user inputs. [Drake Equation]
- Central Oregon Action Network: Aggregator of local non-profits and public services. This region has so much help available to people who need it, but it can be really tough to find. It is a Flask website that uses Jinja2 templating and a MySQL backend, allows for filtering by locale and category. It’s mostly built, but I have some loose ends before I launch v1.
- Wagtail and Django exploration: Wagtail is an open-source CMS built on Django that provides a tremendous amount of flexibility for its developer/users. Given my academic focus on Python, this would be a natural path to creating a platform that offers truly bespoke products and services. Wagtail itself is fairly niche, but working with it will require hands-on Django practice.
- WordPress: WP opportunities are already knocking at my door. Goal is to become a competent WordPress site builder and PHP developer.
Academic Review
I enjoyed the challenges in my classes, and did well in them. I’m still waiting on my last two grades, but I’m hopeful that I’ll finish with a 3.9 GPA.
Some of my favorite courses:
- Data Structures
- Analysis of Algorithms
- Introduction to Databases
- Cloud Application Development
- Software Engineering
Data Structures and Algorithms were both deeply satisfying, requiring some mental and logical exercises that lead to consecutive ah-ha moments. Databases and Cloud App Development satisfied that craving to create something more tangible — taking stock of a product’s needs, designing a backend, then developing an API to serve that data … it felt like I was creating something tactile and useful.
In Software Engineering, I created an application that I call AtmosPür, which tracked household air quality data from an Arduino, and regional outdoor AQI. This allowed the user to analyze needed changes to their household (e.g. new air filters or sealed doors) and how effective those changes are at insulating from wildfire smoke outside.
I am so proud to have done this, but the work will continue so that I can make sure I can get a return on the time, effort, and money I invested into this. Thanks for reading.