Liam's Computer Science Learning Journal

 Part One: Educational Goals By the end of the Computer Science Online program at CSU Monterey Bay, I will have gained a comprehensive, practical understanding of software engineering, specifically focusing on preparing to begin projects regarding the development and implementation of network security and encryption tools. I will achieve this by applying my coursework knowledge to real-world programming challenges, possible internships, and by building a portfolio of projects of all varieties that demonstrate my growth in both coding and cybersecurity skills. I will actively pursue certification programs like CEH and CISSP to supplement my academic education and ensure I am industry-ready. I don't regard this as Plan A, but if AI truly does obliterate the computer science job industry, I will need to sharpen my skills and knowledge even further through a Master of Computer Science or Data Science or perhaps even AI or Statistics.  This goal is vivid because it specifi...

         Per this week's blog prompt, I visited   https://www.academictips.org   to review the various strategies and tips offered by the site. I appreciate the wide net of resources available; the site clearly is designed to reach students of all academic levels and study types. A topic that stood out for me was concentration tips. As a working student for the last few years, my relationship with studying has evolved to both a marathon and a war of attrition. While my initial years of returning to school were marked by study binge sessions, I no longer can sustain such erratic study habits and now have to learn how to walk away for the day and accept I can't rush through it as I might prefer to. A byproduct of working at a more sustainable and consistent pace is learning how to maintain focus across the longer span of effort, so I can appreciate the varied approaches given by academictips.org. Changing your scenery when taking a study break, and perha...

  3 learning strategies I am good at and 3 learning strategies to improve from Dr. Bob Kizlik's Effective Study Skills piece:              Dr. Kizlik's write-up on effective study skills gave me a lot to consider. On one hand, I feel particularly capable of a handful of approaches listed but on the other hand, there are more abstract elements of effective studying that I still need to nail down for myself. As far as more controlled aspects of my personal study culture go, I will say I am great at making a study schedule, gathering the proper materials before writing or working, and making every hour that I am actually studying count.           It's difficult for me to begin working on any project without mapping out the workflow and estimating rough windows of time that each phase of the process might take. I am good at reassessing how I need to use the allotted study or work time as usefully as possible. As ...

 Greetings! My name is Liam, and I am a Computer Science major. It has been a long road back to university, so I am excited to document this process with CSUMB. The first week has been rife with wiping the dust off of a few common best practices and procedures for writing based assignments and online classes. As someone who has been documenting work processes for multiple industries across a decade, I am brutally in touch with the need for proceduralizing and very appreciative of CSUMB's online learning structure. I have learned from this week's cohort-wide discussion posts that I am working with a wonderful variety of kind and intelligent folks who I am excited to keep learning and collaborating with, many of us seem to be in a similarly unique and formative chapter of our professional lives and that is very special to share. Creating a study schedule and reviewing important paper-writing practices such as properly citing sources has been crucial. While I am anxious to continu...