Skip to main content

CST 361S - Week 1

My Service Project

As April ended, May began and the vestiges of my Java software design class faded away in the horizon, I began my service project with Computers 2 SD Kids.

Computers 2 SD Kids, or C2SDK for short, is a nonprofit organization that refurbishes and tests donated computers (desktops, laptops, and tablets) for kids from low income families to use for education. When I first found out about them, I thought it was a great cause and got in contact with the lead volunteer coordinator right away, and I've completed five hours of work so far helping out. I think it is because of part of me loves building desktop computers, and the other part really empathizes with these kids because I received my very first desktop computer in a similar fashion. Granted, I didn't come from a low income background, but the fact that a generous donor was kind enough to clean and refurbish that desktop computer for me always stuck with me even as I've gotten older and can afford all sorts of technology on my own working full time (Disclaimer: I am single and have no kids. Those two things help when it comes to being able to afford cool stuff you want without any financial repercussions). 

Class Privilege
Growing up as a minority has always made me aware of class privilege in some way. Although I am lucky enough to have also grown up in a time and place where I wasn't a victim of genocide or racial oppression, I can understand how issues like race, gender, and class privilege are still very much issues today, even if they aren't as extreme as the two examples I just mentioned. The most important thing I learned about the reading this week was how much race could dictate people's careers, and reading through some of my classmates' responses a couple of them felt the same way I did, and especially how I felt after choosing my current career path.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Final Journal

It's the end of a long, four year journey, and what a journey it has been. I never thought I could pull off finishing my second bachelor's degree four years ago when I first went to that introduction to programming class at my community college. I would like to thank all the friends I've made along the way and the people who have helped me through the last two years. Although it was difficult at times taking class while working 40+ hours a week, I'm proud of myself for making it through. I don't think I'll be a student enrolled in classes anytime soon, but I'll always be a lifelong student. See you all around.

CST 300 - Week 4

Educational Goals My current educational goals are to finish my bachelor's degree in computer science while also gaining a deep understanding of the fundamentals along the way. I have always believed that a solid understanding of the fundamentals goes a long way in any skill since you always refer back to them. When I have gotten stuck on a problem or some skill in the past, I have always taken a step back, broken down things into smaller pieces and remembered my fundamentals, and doing so has helped me through a lot of academic and professional work so far. Although I already know basic programming and data structures, I want to learn more about them and discover new ways of thinking in order to solve complex problems.  Career Goals I started a career as a full-time software test analyst about two months ago. Even though my job doesn't involve a lot of programming, getting a degree in computer science would be really helpful in all aspects of my career, such as identif...

CST 499 - Week 5

This week, our group completed a major milestone in our project by finishing the front end of our application, marking it as a "feature complete". We also conducted our initial round of user acceptance tests and received plenty of useful feedback, comments, and suggestions for the final stages of development and eventual deployment.  As a test engineer, I also interact with end customers doing software system test, so I understand quite well the process of conducting tests and then signing off said tests if they meet all requirements as specified. Since my company must comply with Department of Defense standards, the "rules of engagement" for testing and product acceptance are much stricter than our standards for capstone, but I can imagine similar rules would be applied to other students doing industry projects. Also, I got my first experience writing a test procedure from scratch by myself, as even at my job I am not responsible for writing procedures but I am acc...