From a very young age, I was always interested in computers. My first experience using a computer was on an Apple II GS which I used to play games like Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail. By the time I entered middle school, my family had a Mac which I used to access the internet through America Online. I quickly became addicted to chat rooms and eventually began visiting a room where Mac users met to talk about technology and trade software. It was during this time that I used a shareware program called Keyquencer to develop a set of small programs to add more functionality to AOL. I had a lot of fun not just programming, but also developing the product: creating a logo and artwork, advertising in the chat room, writing user documentation, recruiting beta testers, and setting a release date. It was this project that initially planted the seeds in my mind as to what field of study that I’d pursue later on.
Strangely enough, during the latter stages of middle school and throughout high school, I didn’t have any more involvement in software development. My initial attempts at picking up more complex languages were met with failure so I quit the hobby for some time. In school, I suffered from a lack of confidence in my academic abilities and was an average student. I graduated high school but ended up dropping out of college after my first semester and dropped out again after a second attempt. At this point, I made the choice to forgo school for the time being and get a job.
Taking some time off from school ended up being a great decision as I simply wasn’t ready to be successful in college. Working in retail and restaurant type jobs for two years helped give me some perspective and convinced me to get back to school as soon as possible. It was also during this time that I bought an introduction to programming book and taught myself how to code in Java. This reignited the initial passion that I had had for programming and motivated me to continue to learn about software development.
Eventually, I reapplied and was accepted back into college as a computer science major. Being a little bit more mature and a lot more confident in my abilities, I was now poised to work hard and succeed academically. I drastically changed my study habits, set goals, and pushed myself harder than I ever pushed myself before. For the first time in my life, I had above average grades and was in position to apply for some of the more competitive internships as I entered the upper class.
The beginning of my junior year would mark the start of my job search - one of the most exciting yet hectic times in my life. I set lofty goals as to what type of company that I wanted to work for – one that had a great work environment and culture, one that had a global reach with its products, and one that was a major player in the development of internet applications. Over the course of the next two years, I would participate in every aspect of the programming technical interview and recruiting process and experience the many ups and downs that occur during a job search (for a list of companies I interviewed with, please refer to the FAQ).
The end results were mixed. While I was successful obtaining two very good internships and receiving some solid full time offers, I failed in acquiring an offer from one of my top choices. Despite the results, I enjoyed the entire process and don’t have any regrets or gripes about anything. I look forward to recounting my experiences and trying to help others get recognized by companies that they’re interested in working for. I also hope that this blog will serve as a positive advertisement for software engineering as a profession and convince those who normally would not even contemplate it to reconsider. I look forward to working hard and bringing you information rich content, and more importantly, I look forward to hearing your feedback and interacting with you.
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