Welcome to my podcast in which I'm going to talk

about what I wish I had known at the beginning of

this semester.

The beginning of a semester can be an uneasy time

There are students trying to crash and add courses

in order to fill out their schedule and graduate

on time. Students trying to figure out if the classes they are in,

are the right fit for them and much more

anxiety than necessary for college age kids. I

remember the beginning of this semester. It was no

different for me. I was not worried about having to

crash or add any courses, but I was nervous that

certain courses I enrolled in would prove to be

too difficult for me. With this being my last

semester, that possibility frightened me to my

core because it would mean I didn't graduate on

time. One of the courses I was especially nervous

about was Business-one-120G. I had ended up enrolling

in this course because I needed another accounting

elective. Due to the pandemic, the options are

limited. Because of the limited options, I seemingly

chose at random and decided on Bus-one-120G. I was

not even sure what the class was at the time. All

I was concerned with was that it would satisfy the

elective requirement I needed. The first day of

class, I finally learned with the class I had

enrolled in really was programming and systems

development and AIS. I quickly learned that this was

essentially an introductory course to programming which I

knew nothing about and never thought I would

know anything about. I found myself filled with

nerves that the course would be too difficult for

me since it was such a foreign concept. Having now

almost completed the semester, there are a few

things I wish I could have told to my past self in

order to help prepare me for what's to come. First

off, I would have tried to explain what the class was as

opposed to going into it, not knowing anything.

I would have also tried to express how important it is

to, "eat your vegetables". Lastly, I would

have liked to tell myself about the effectiveness

of the trial and error method when writing a

program. 

It is usually not a good idea to get involved with

something before knowing exactly what it is you're

getting involved with. The same rule applies to

choosing what courses to take. At the time of

choosing courses, I was blinded by the light at

graduation and did not bother to learn what the

courses were, which I was choosing. Because of

this, the first couple of class meetings were very

intimidating. I wish I could have told myself that,

yes, the courses will teach you how to write

programs, but it will do so at a manageable pace.

What I would have also said was that this course is

specifically for business students, and it is

likely that not many others in the class have

prior programming knowledge either. I remember

thinking what a great mistake I had made picking

this course and how I felt I did not belong in the

class. I believe that knowing what the course was

going to be, knowing I was not the only one

without prior knowledge and understanding that the

course was designed for students like me would have

not only helped me prepare for this course, but would have

also helped ease my nerves in those first few

weeks. Another piece of advice I would have liked

to tell myself at the beginning of the semester is

the importance of eating your vegetables.

Professor Huerta does not make practice

programs mandatory. Instead, she encourages students to

complete them for their own sake as opposed to for

the sake of grade. Huerta uses the analogy of

eating your vegetables to explain this importance.

People don't usually like to eat their vegetables,

but is very important to do so to ensure that

you're getting the nutrients needed. Doing the

practice problems is very similar to that.

Students don't often want to do extra work if it

is not required for grade, but doing so here is

very important to fully understand the material

and pass the course. I believe that had I actually

understood this lesson, I would have completed

more and more of the practice problems and would

have had a much better understanding in the course

and a better grade than I do now. The last thing

that I wish I could have told myself at the

beginning of the semester is how effective the

trial and error method is to writing and solving

programs. During the first few weeks of programming,

I felt like a fish on a bicycle, completely unsure

about so many aspects of what I was trying to do.

One of the things I discovered later in the

semester that helped me a lot with writing

programs was how helpful trial and error was in

getting a program to do what I wanted to do. This

involves making small changes to programs and then

attempting to run them and doing so over and over

again until the desired output was given. Once I

learned the trial and error method, I began to

succeed at a much higher rate in writing programs

and I would advise any new programmers to use this

method.

Had I known all of these things at the beginning

of the semester, I believe that I would have been

a much more successful student in this class than I

actually have been.

Thank you for listening to my podcast. Don't

forget to like and subscribe down below.

Good bye.