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Discussion on: 5 Things I Wish I Did Differently While Pursing My Computer Science Degree

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anitabe404 profile image
Anita Beauchamp

When I graduated from college, I had many of these same things on my list of things I wish I did differently. I studied Electrical Engineering in undergrad, and to be honest, the coursework was quite difficult. I did summer internships, but I didn't really produce any work/personal projects that I could hang my hat on. By the time I graduated, I was disenchanted and my self-confidence as an engineer was quite low.

While it's important to look back and acknowledge the things that we could've done better (I imagine you wrote this post to help others who are still in school), it's equally as important to be compassionate with yourself and forgive yourself. This is the thing that I didn't do. I continued to rake myself over the coals for not knowing/being/doing better in university. And so those college regrets then morphed into career regrets.

I just want to affirm that you are an engineer(or coder or developer if you prefer those terms) and that the lack of personal projects or hackathons (or anything else) doesn't take away from the knowledge that you do have and the value that you bring to your company & team.

Happy Learning & Happy Coding.

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nehamaity profile image
Neha Maity

Thank you for your response. It has taken me some time to work through the imposter syndrome I had when I was a student comparing myself to peers who I thought achieved so much more than me. Having self-compassion is a journey and I'm currently still working to get there and I've come a long way since I graduated last year. I now realize that I do bring value to my team at my current job and it's okay that I don't know everything -- no developer does, especially with the number of programing languages and technologies out there.

I also want to acknowledge that the standard for engineering students is high, I can only speak to my experience as a previous computer science student. Not only are we expected to manage a full-time course load as a student, many students have responsibilities outside of school such as a part-time job or taking care of family. And on top of that we're expected by many companies to work on personal projects/code outside of schoolwork. These expectations are a lot and maybe this means there should be some changes in what companies expect from graduating engineering students. Of course, this is a different discussion entirely.

I appreciate your input and thank you for sharing your thoughts and journey.