I love to play video games, whether it be on a console or on my pc. I grew up with first person shooters, but now enjoy all types of games. I mostly see video games as a form of entertainment, but I sometimes also see them as a form of relaxation. If I feel stressed and need to unwind I just play some games. It's a nice way to escape your troubles and relax. Some video games that I tend to play regularly are Call of Duty Black Ops (1 & 2), Halo (3 & Reach), Tabletop Simulator, Lego Star Wars, Peggle, Minecraft, and Minesweeper. Board and card games are also very entertaining, especially in a group setting. My favorites include Monopoly Deal, Uno, and Settlers of Catan.
I'm not the best cook out there, but I enjoy learning how to cook. Even if it's something as simple as learning how to make soft boiled eggs for my instant ramen, it's very entertaining. There's always room for improvement, and it's nice to learn as I go along with cooking more. With experience, I learn more and more.
I love to watch movies. I'm not a film critic, and I don't have an interest in studying film, film history, film production, etc., but it's very entertaining to see different movies. Especially if you're going from an older movie to a more modern one. it's amazing to see the differences between the two. Whether it be the culture, style, filming, etc. It's a nice way to see how much we've progressed both technologically, and as a society. Some of my favorite movies are Blazing Saddles, The Dark Knight, The Social Network, Rosemary's Baby, Shaun of the Dead, and Catch Me If You Can.
When I took my first Computer Science (CS) class at Santa Ana College, I was excited. We learned incredibly basic C++ and HTML. But, after that class. I never really touched it until my next CS class. This habit went on until I started to connect my interests with coding. This began in college. Watching YouTube videos about people making simple games using C++, Python, JavaScript, etc. It was incredibly entertaining, but it wasn't until I started coding on my own that I started realizing that I loved coding. I started with simple projects that did command line input and output. But, as I coded more and went further into my college career I started realizing that I loved to code. But, I never really coded something on my own, that was associated with my interests until recently when I coded The Wave Bot. It took a lot of time to learn how to read APIs and following tutorials to make it work, but I was able to make a simple Discord bot. The commands were simple, compared to the more complicated bots offered, but it was something I created. I felt proud, and that made me realize that I just love learning and coding. Whether it be working with an API, or trying to figure out how to code something, that was what I loved. Being able to code and create something, with some research and some dedication, is something I genuinely enjoy.
My family is a big motivation of mine to not only continue to do what I love, but to also improve and challenge myself whenever I am able to. I would like to make them proud for all the hard work they have done for me and my education. My closest friends have also been a big motivation as they have always believed in me. Whether I've ranted about some code that doesn't wanna work, or how I don't understand the class material right away. I am grateful for the circle of friends I have, and how they've been there to support me when I need it. But my biggest motivation is honestly love for coding. I enjoy coding and I strive be a better coder every time I work on a new project. The ability to learn something new every project is incredibly exciting.
When people think retail, they don't think Computer Science right after. On the surface they aren't very similar. Retail is selling people products while Computer Science is the study of computers. But there are core concepts between these two that can be learned in retail and then applied to the CS world. Here is what I've learned while working at Target which I believe is important to have in a CS work environment.
When I go into work, I am either working alone or alongside a group of other coworkers. Working alone, I am working on my responsibilities in the store.
Whether this is changing sale signs, organizing aisles, or marking clearance, I have various tasks that need to be completed daily/weekly. Times I have worked
alone have allowed me to practice my time management skills, efficiency in completing tasks, and critical thinking. It has shown me that I am able to work
Individually if able to and what I need to do if I wanna improve on my individual work skills.
When working in a group/team, I have worked both as the lead position and as a member. As a leader, I have been able to
improve my time management and task division skills. I have also worked on my communication skills, while in both tight and simple
situations. As a member, I have improved on my listening abilities, and have built more confidence to ask questions when needed.
Sometimes a question can help everyone in the group and understand different perspectives. It also gives me a moment to try and understand
how I should talk to the members while I am in the leader position.
This is relevant in the CS world due to how there are times where I will be working both in a team and Individually. Being able to understand
how I can better work in either or these environments can help me work better on any project handed to me.
Every day at work I have to talk to customers. The more I talk to customers, the more I am able to read body languages, expressions, and communicate more effectively no matter the situation. Whether it is speaking to an angry customer or helping a customer with a thousand questions, communication is key. This is also important when talking to other coworkers. Whether a new coworker I'm training makes a mistake or talking to my manager, communication is very important. This is also very important in the CS world, since while working on projects I will have to speak with others on my team or project leaders. Being able to properly communicate my progress, concerns, or mistakes can help make the work environment flow smoother.
While on the job, I had had to juggle various daily tasks while also giving helpful customer assistance. Sometimes helping customers took a good chunk of time, which made me become more aware of the time I had. And as a result, I began to grow my time management skills. I manage my time at work so that I am able to complete everything by the time I have to clock out. This can extend to the CS world in the sense that there may be tasks for a project that are time sensitive, or being able to complete a daily workload on time. One project task that falls behind can lead to a hold up for the whole team.