It’s that time again… the usually dreaded time to return to classes.  This time around, I have mixed feelings regarding the start of my final Fall semester.  On one hand, I am holding on to the tiny bit of my summer vacation.  But on the other hand, I am more than excited to begin this semester, if only because of the classes that I will be taking this time around.  Here’s my Fall semester lineup:

  1. Data Structures and Analysis
  2. Computer Systems Architecture
  3. Linear Algebra
  4. Advanced Programming Languages
  5. Object Oriented Concurrent Programming

I also plan to supplement my learning with a couple of free MOOCs:

  1. Algorithms 1
  2. Software Testing

As usual, I have piled my semester with tons of fun and plenty of things to learn.  This semester will be special to me because I will be taking the bulk of my Computer Science core classes.  As I took some time to re-read the course descriptions, I could feel the excitement rising because much of the gaps I’ve felt lately, will be addressed this semester.

Let’s discuss these “gaps”…

A huge part of my studies has been self-taught.  Although I am attending a university in order to get my degree, a large portion of what I know now, has come from countless hours of practice, reading, and completing MOOCs online.  While stumbling working my way through my self-learning, there have always been areas that I felt would have been more clear had I gotten to that point in my formal education.  Or, in many cases, the resources available teach a watered-down version of a subject, which left gaps in general understanding.  In these situations, I found myself seeking different sources of information to fill in the gaps, but sometimes, the information still was elusive at best.

I know that school will not fill in all of the gaps, but I do feel as though this semester will provide me with a more in depth guideline to follow in order to deepen my understanding, specifically around data structures and algorithms.

So, onward I go to my next to last semester of school!

 

Mira is a Senior Full Stack, specializing in Web Applications developed in the healthcare industry.