My Journey to Computer Science Engineer👨‍💻

In this article, I am going to share my journey as a Computer Science Engineer. The aim of this article is to give an idea, about how the life of a typical Computer Science and Engineering student would be and how can we take actions so as to make the journey more interesting and productive towards achieving our goals.

My First Computer 💻

I didn’t know much about computers until my uncle bought one home(old model) in 2009 when I was in 4th grade. Initially, I started to learn how to operate and gain knowledge of the applications it provides. Later in 2012, when I was in 7th grade, I got the new one for myself (new model), from there I started using it for my learning purpose and got attuned to it. My enthusiasm for how these computers work and are obliging in real-time flourished my interest in computer science.

Roadmap to Engineering🎓

I completed my 10th grade with a pretty good CGPA. With my keenness on computers, I decided to become a software engineer. Alongside my interest in mathematics, I took MPC in my intermediate. By and by, I completed my intermediate with a good percentage. Finally, on acquiring a good rank in TS-Eamcet, set foot into an esteemed Engineering college.

“I’m grateful for my family ️and well-wishers❤️, for always being there throughout my way.”

College Diaries 📘

I entered my first year of college in the month of August 2017. It was a very different experience and after a few days, I got adjusted to the environment. The first programming language, that I learned was C++. I started loving the language in a few months. I started creating some small projects to get a better understanding and also began to explore various things apart from what was being taught in the class. Later, We were taught Java during our third semester. I fell in love with Java, and the faculty assigned to our class was simply great!. I used to clarify all my doubts and became proficient with Java (Intermediate). Whenever I had some doubts, I also used YouTube, which proved to be an excellent resource.

One day, I attended a workshop on IoT with python conducted at Osmania University, Hyderabad. I eventually started developing an interest in the field of Python, As I was fascinated to see how it outshine java and c++. I started learning in-depth about python using various online resources. I also started exploring many other technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Quantum Computing. Computer Science had so much impact on me that I started exploring various different fields and also started making side-projects by then. These side-projects helped me immensely during placements as they posed as a plus factor. I also started to practice on platforms such as HackerRank and it really helped me to have a consistent touch in programming. I will share all the resources which were really helpful in improving my knowledge and specifically prepare for my interviews at the end of this article 👇.

So, moving on 1st and 2nd years went well. Thereafter, due to the unanticipated upsurge of pandemic (covid-19), my 3rd and 4th years had been completely held in online mode, which impacted a lot on us, thereby missing our college environment, workshops, labs, etc.

Despite this, we got to spend supplemental time in-home, which eventually helped me to spend time improving my programming skills in python and also to learn other programming languages. After spending almost a year in Competitive Programming, I started focusing more on Development, which at a later stage had a serious impact during my interview preparation.

Three years went by, I entered my fourth year. Placement season began and I was in a state of full anxiety about what is gonna happen. My parents were in full hope that I would get placed early and would be on the list of first placed students. But, that didn’t happen. I struggled a lot and got rejected by many companies. Then I started putting in a lot of effort and took a leave from social media as it was a major source of distraction. I managed to grab 2 offers from reputed organizations. It was indeed a great experience. Now you might think, “why did this guy end his story of placement journey so shortly?”Wait, Probably I think that would be covered in another article in detail! 😉

Mistakes and Learnings

I highlighted some of the mistakes that I did during this journey. Of course, I learned a lot from those mistakes and tried to improve myself to a large extent. I want to share some tips and some mistakes that you must avoid.

1. Start early, you will enjoy the journey and get a chance to make mistakes early so that you can improve yourself in a better manner.
2. Make friends only with those people that don’t affect your productivity. Don’t be around those people who spread hatred and negativity.
3. There is only one formula that you need to keep in your mind.

If you grind yourself today (work hard towards your goal), you will be happy tomorrow.

But if you refuse to work hard and yearn for transient happiness, you will suffer for your lifetime.

My dad used to say this. It had a great impact on me. These are strong words. This is the ultimate truth of life and the way in which we can perceive what is success in life. 💯

4. Be good. Do good. But don’t be too good. Because, if you are too good, people will treat you as a doormat.

Some of the aforementioned points might seem silly. But they will have such a powerful impact on your life.

Some other important tips:

1. Maintain a great LinkedIn and GitHub profile.
2. Try to keep a balance between Competitive Programming and Project Development.
3. Be consistent. Consistency is the only key to master Data Structures and Algorithms.
4. Start investing some time contributing to Open Source projects on GitHub.

Learning Resources that I used:

1. HackerRank (Recommended for Beginners)
2. LeetCode (Interview Preparation)
3. GeeksforGeeks (Interview Preparation)
4. Sololearn (To learn a new programming language / Technology)
5. Newton School (Competitive Programming / Interview Preparation)

I suffered a bit due to a lack of guidance and support. There were only a few people who guided me on this journey. So, please network with a lot of people, especially on LinkedIn. So, this was all about my journey as a Computer Science Engineer. I hope you liked it! Dedicated to all the Freshers, and Juniors. With ❤️ from your Senior!

If you have any queries please post in the comment section below. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Also, if you want to look at some of my projects developed, don’t forget to check my GitHub.

With that being said, thanks for reading my article, and Happy Coding!