Final Thoughts on Self Paced Curriculum

Posted by Zach Smith on October 20, 2020

Well, after a long journey, I am happy to say that I have finally made it to the end of the online Software Engineering course! It’s been a long but fulfilling journey, so I wanted to leave some final thoughts and advice here.

When I started this course, I had a lot of doubts about whether I had what it takes to be a decent programmer. Even now, I feel the impostor syndrome start to creep in a lot. But over time I realized I was just trying to rush things too much. Coding is a very slow process in many ways. It takes a long time to develop new features, or new practices or ways of thinking about code. And this goes doubly for learning to code. For beginners, it can seem overwhelming how much there is.

But you don’t need to do it all in a day. No one can. Some days during the course, when my motivation was low, I told myself I would do just one thing that day. Maybe just one lab or one good commit on a project. And probably eight times out of ten, by the time I had finished it I felt more motivation to continue going. So if you’re struggling, that’s ok! Just take each problem one thing at a time and you’ll reach your goal.

Next, I’ll be moving on to the job search. I know there are a lot of challenges ahead, but I am ready to give it my all. So to all my fellow students, be proud of what you’ve done so far! Keep up the good work, and best of luck to you in all your future endeavors!