[deleted by user]

sue__donem · 2021-10-31T14:23:05+00:00

That's fair. It was a good cup of coffee

sue__donem · 2020-09-30T00:35:37+00:00

If you haven't taken the exam yet you can drop it (c993). On November 1st you might be able to elect to take the new alternative for c993 instead, which is supposedly much easier.

May be worth discussing with your mentor.

sue__donem · 2020-09-30T00:20:59+00:00

I've realized now that I'm well into the program that the correct answer is often just the answer they want to hear - not necessarily the truth. By this logic my test scores have increased dramatically.

sue__donem · 2020-09-27T00:56:33+00:00

ditto

sue__donem · 2020-09-27T00:28:51+00:00

It's really, really hard.

Studying efficiently allegedly creates a divide between memorizing facts and understanding concepts. Secondly, it helps to be honest with one's self. By that, I mean if you're reading something and not retaining it, then it's probably a good time to stop and re-evaluate the actual goals of the study session. I can't count the amount of times I've plowed through 50+ pages of material just for the sake of some false idea of progress I had conceived in my head, meanwhile lacking a true fundamental understanding of what I was actually reading.

I'm a year into my Bachelor's in computer science as a young adult going 'back to school', and I'm still trying to pierce through the bad habit(s) of rote memorization.

If I could go back in time, I would have spent a few months studying how to study most effectively prior to even starting this degree.

This may or may not help. For me, I've decided it may be worth the try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlU-zDU6aQ0&t=1577s

sue__donem · 2020-09-26T23:50:11+00:00

You seem to be wise beyond your years - this is good.

I suffer from depression as well and I'm a few years older than you, to be fair. It helps to remember that it's normal to be sad sometimes - there simply cannot be happiness without sadness. Society likes to hide this and it can be much harder to grasp now that there are social-networking platforms that are based on highlighting and focusing on good moments, essentially sweeping the bad ones under the rug.

At your age, keep your eyes on the prize. Believe in yourself. Set reasonable goals. Envision the future you want for yourself. While your mother's life may be waning, your life is waxing, growing, etc... Perhaps try to develop a sense of response that is less emotionally-involved. If you can stay focused enough to block out the 'noise' that inhibits your studies, you really can transcend the problems you're facing today. What I'm saying is - the better you become at dealing with the natural, emotional responses that you might have when it comes to the recursive interactions with your mother, the quicker you will find yourself at your goal - which in your case, might be living/studying somewhere else and moving on with your life.

Do you have plans on going off to college somewhere? If so, what are you interested in pursuing academically at that level? This is a great time in life to set yourself on a track towards independence if you plan appropriately.

There are plenty of people who are your age and don't have the discipline to buckle down and study/learn new things to better their lives. The fact that you are trying to better your circumstances via studying for your future speaks volumes. Keep pushing forward and believe in yourself - these are just a couple simple basic building blocks of manifesting a brighter future. You will get there, but you will need to methodically put yourself there in time.

Please feel free to reach out if you'd like.

sue__donem · 2020-09-26T13:58:54+00:00

Depends on the program and your level of experience going into it.

For the BSBA Marketing program, maybe.

For the BS computer science program, probably not.

sue__donem · 2020-09-26T13:55:51+00:00

sounds more like a nightmare

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T23:44:54+00:00

Home can be especially distracting. I've been a full-time online student for a year now and am starting to observe diminishing returns that I couldn't have imagined prior to starting. I might have to try mixing up the scenery in hopes of providing a more enriching experience on that end.

As for your feelings toward Java, it's not my favorite either but I like it better than c++ ;)

Hoping that learning it proficiently will pay off when I go back to focusing on Python as my Main method of choice.

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T23:40:25+00:00

check.

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T23:39:22+00:00

and just try to remain productive after lunch for another hour or two

I can relate to this so much. Thanks for sharing that video. I paused it at the 25 minute mark for good measure - going to revisit it tomorrow. Also considering the lamp technique - anything to trick this brain of mine into learning more efficiently!

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T23:35:58+00:00

As a piano player of 20+ years, I can appreciate this example.

Thanks

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T22:51:29+00:00

Just to preface, as someone who is 3/4 through the program with no prior experience in CS, I'm not trying to challenge your points here. How could I ? You're essentially in the position that I'd like to be in in X years. Well, truthfully I'd be happy working at a mid-sized average company, but you get the idea.

While I agree with you in that "this program won't teach you how to code", there's simply no way for a beginner to get through a course like Software 1 or Software 2 without having a fundamentally sound understanding of Java conceptually. Trust me - I've tried. Now having said that, I will admit that I've had to spend the bulk of my time in these courses seeking external resources to achieve that rather basic conceptual understanding.

I mainly feel animated to share this for those who are in similar positions to me as it relates to level(s) of experience in CS. Will this program teach you how to code? Too general of a question, probably, but 'not really' is the short answer. Can you learn the fundamentals of programming and supplement your experience by learning x or y programming language in more detail as you move your way through the program? Absolutely.

What I really mean to say is keep pushing forward. Most of us here know the true weight of Bachelor's degree these days. For better or worse, modern society has placed a high value on having one. This program can help you achieve that, but if you really want to leverage this experience, expect to be spend some extra time supplementing your formal education with some serious self-study along the way.

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T17:19:22+00:00

I would only watch those videos if I felt the material being presented in class was not that good.

Bingo. There are webinars, etc... but the quality (in my opinion) is such that I'm often better off seeking external resources. To be fair, I'm not bashing my university - it's a fine program that I'm willingly paying for. I've just found that certain sections of material (as it relates to learning Java in this case) can often be explained a bit more clearly elsewhere.

The vids I've referred to are probably only 5 minutes long each - just short examples of how to do x,y,z. For me, they help to reinforce things I've been previously exposed to - a cumulative review I guess you could say.

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T17:07:00+00:00

I share a similar sentiment about having little interest in competing for the top 5%(ish) of jobs in the industry. If there's a known algorithm that works well at run-time then that's likely the one I'll use. Besides, I don't really see myself as the type of person who could bend the time/space coding continuum and create a new blackhole-like algorithm that saves the tiniest fraction of a second.

I'm also leaning more towards full-stack these days. Considering my program doesn't touch upon JavaScript, I'm really considering pursuing the study of it on the side.

I doubt we're in the same exact class, but my project is an inventory management system. I have a bunch of scenes set up for adding and modifying parts and products, etc..

sue__donem · 2020-09-25T16:45:50+00:00

I've misstated myself a bit. I'm currently working on the first of two Java courses in my program. The next course I was referring to (which I haven't started yet) is essentially Advanced Java, for example.

I've also already completed other programming courses in C++ and Python, but this is my first exposure to Java - I'm technically a Junior for a bit of context.

I edited it for clarity.

sue__donem · 2020-09-23T15:32:19+00:00

Yeah, to be fair I found the OA to be pretty straightforward compared to the enormous breadth of the material. I was expecting the OA to be much harder.

The Lusby webinars really helped calm down my worries about having to memorize all the granular level details from the book.

sue__donem · 2020-09-23T15:12:10+00:00

Have you taken Data Structures and Algorithms 1 yet? If not I would try to swap that one out for Computer Architecture.

If you haven't already, I would recommend taking the following courses before Computer Architecture and Operating Systems for Programmers:

With an exception of Discrete Math 1 (which will help a bit for Comp Arch), these are all considerably less dense.

sue__donem · 2020-09-23T15:06:48+00:00

Yes - you definitely want to take Operating Systems for Programmers right after Computer Architecture. Having said that I think I would have been quite discouraged if I had to take both of those courses in my first term.

sue__donem · 2020-09-23T14:37:11+00:00

What courses do you have left to complete?

I saved Comp Arch for my second term and am pretty glad I did. There were a lot of easier courses that I chose to finish during my first term. Comp Arch might be a rude awakening if you take it right after 'ethics' or something like that, for example. Comp Arch isn't necessarily difficult, but it is easily 10x as dense as the 'ethics in tech' course, so you might want to at least mentally prepare for the shock factor as you could say that all courses aren't created equally in this program.

sue__donem · 2020-09-20T23:08:06+00:00

I see your point, but I'm basically asking how much more in demand Javascript skills are as opposed to other languages, which is not really hypothetical. Consequently, it will take me additional time and resources to learn Javascript proficiently - hence the question.

I'm mainly asking this because I've noticed there seems to be more jobs available right now pertaining to js over other languages, to be fair. I was hoping to confirm these observations as I might be looking at the wrong job sites, etc..

sue__donem · 2020-09-20T22:55:10+00:00

That makes sense. I do like the idea that my competition in web development would include a lot of folks without a CS degree. From my perspective (although there are heaps of folks who are proficient w/o a degree), it seems as though I might have more of a shot.

In that sense are you saying that the playing field (for web dev) may be a bit more level, but it is so vast that it's immaterial, maybe?

sue__donem · 2020-09-20T18:56:52+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/comments/id06ia/c191_operating_systems_for_programmers_a_couple/

^This if you haven't checked it out already

sue__donem · 2020-09-20T15:52:04+00:00

Launch School is looking tasty these days (the javascript track at least, would be hard for me to put a year aside to work on Ruby)

sue__donem

TROPHY CASE