Computer Science Capstone 👩‍🎓📚💻

Hello everyone~👋

I hope dead week is not too much (yet🙊). Capstone presentation week for most majors started last week so all I had been up to was to finish my part for the big presentation. So yes, today blog post will be about capstone because #I’vedonenothingbutthhatforawhile 😂.

First, some of you might ask, what is capstone? Capstone is “a senior thesis or senior seminar serves as the culminating and usually integrative experience of an educational program” (Wikipedia - because I actually don’t know how to explain it🤦‍♀️). To sum up, we all need to do capstone(s) to be able to graduate with our degree(s) at PLU. What makes capstone more fun (and stress 👀🧠) is that you get to choose what you want to do! Since I’m a computer science major, my capstone was about building a cross-platform application for textbook exchange with my group. You can either work individually or in group. In computer science department, it is recommended to work as a group because that’s mostly how it is in the tech industry and we should be more familiar with this concept before going to the real world.

You might notice the part when it’s said you can choose your own capstone project, but what if you don’t know what you wanna do (yet🧐)? Don’t worry, your professors, advisors and classmates are there to help. Or just anyone that can give you an idea of what you might find interesting to work on! I know I didn’t know what I wanted to work on, I spent a whole three days in the summer to think about what I wanted to do, and nothing came up to me at all (you might wonder why). Then the very first day of capstone class, we were asked about our ideas, right then, my brain tried to work really hard because I didn’t want to just sit there at the front being silent (not that I don’t do it most of the time when I’m in class, didn’t know why I felt more encouraged on that day… 😶, but really, don’t worry, there were many of my classmates who did not talk about their ideas and that did not make them less than anyone else).

Our application logo 😆

I ended up speaking about it in class just to be in a different group in the next minutes of the discussion… 😅 So yeah, I found a group to work with, our capstone project idea is from one of the teammate, but we for sure all enjoyed working on it together. Our capstone lasted for a full academic year, but I know some majors only have it for one semester.

Sorry if I scare anyone while reading this post 😂. It it true that there was a lot of work and sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming, but that is why it’s our last project! I have learned so much while working on it and I actually feel more prepare for my future job (disclaimer: interview only, i hope😹). It gave me an opportunity to at least know what field I want to work for now, something that I have always been unsure about. Most importantly, it can definitely be something my group really proud of because we tried to put in all the skills and knowledge that we learned all these years along with months of research to create this “product” that is ours. To a certain extent, it shows what we know in the most creative way. And we’re all feel so rewarded and happy (mostly relieved) that it’s done at the end 🤗🤗🤗.

A n Y w A y, this is probably my last post as an undergraduate student because I’m graduating in 2 weeks🥳🥳! Thank you to everyone who spent time reading my posts! Since this is dead week, please don’t forget to take care of yourself while studying hard 💪💪! Good luck 🍀🍀🍀~

~Cloud ☁️~

Activity vs. Rest During Spring Break!

At the beginning of this semester, I had a big snafu and had to conduct a major operation on my academic schedule. Because of this, I have had the great fortune of getting to take a global religions course called “Judaism in America” where we have been learning about Jewish history and different Jewish opinions about what it means to be Jewish and how Jewish philosophies apply in different areas of American life. Needless to say, this has helped to make my semester extremely interesting and has made me change my perspective on several things.

Unlike most classes I’ve had, I was required to take 24 hours out of my spring break and do… mostly nothing. One of the focuses of this course has been understanding what it means to practice Shabbat (the Sabbath) and there is no better way to do this than viscerally. So, with my mother, I prepared during Thursday and Friday for a day of rest, which began with an extremely rushed dinner preparation and ended with a slow reintegration back into actual “work.”

Shabbat begins on Friday at sundown and doesn’t end until the following Saturday at sundown. It entails an investigation of oneself moving through time and there are many rules as to how one should appropriately do this. My mother and I decided on a few activities to do in those 24 hours: we made challah, mejadra, and latkes (all with varying levels of success); we slept in, dressed up, ate all day, read for a lot of the day, gardened, and enjoyed each other’s company. This was possibly one of the nicest days of the year so far and I felt that I was able to still experience a lot without having to fill my schedule like I do at school.

I’m hoping to somehow incorporate the ideas of Shabbat into my life moving forward and am glad that I was able to make it a part of my semester this year!

Also, there are currently a lot of dogs at my parents' house. They were very involved in Shabbat.

Guest Post: Sean's takeaways from the CFA Research Challenge!

This week we have a special guest posting on the international student blog. In this article, my friend Sean will be talking about his experience doing the CFA Research Challenge and his main takeaways. Enjoy!!!

                                                                *****

                                            

Hello everyone, my name is Sean Lechleiter and I am currently enrolled in the MSF program here at Pacific Lutheran University. PLU has a wide variety of extracurricular activities allowing students to supplement their educational experience. I recently had the opportunity to represent PLU, along with my friend Pape, at the CFA Research Challenge, a global finance competition. Over the course of the past few months, our team conducted extensive financial analysis on Esterline, a Bellevue based aerospace and defense company. After completing our analysis and valuation, our team completed a report and defended our recommendation in front of a panel of industry experts. While our participation in the competition recently came to a close after placing third in the local level competition, the opportunity provided valuable experience for our team as we enter a career in Finance.

           

Along with developing our analytical skills, I learned how to thrive in a team setting while accomplishing our goals as a group. Effective teamwork is an essential aspect of any team or organization. For anyone interested in participating in the CFA Research Challenge, or a similar project, there are several key takeaways you must consider.

• ·         Utilize provided resources- Participants are provided with a professional and academic mentor willing to assist the team throughout the process. Constant communication with these mentors will ensure the team is on track and progressing towards their end goal. Additionally, participants are given a valuation book to assist with their project. Team members will make the most of their experience by using all resources available to them.

• ·         Get to know each team member- Developing relationships with each team member will ensure everyone’s strengths are being utilized correctly. Learning about everyone’s interests and strengths will allow the team to divide up roles and let each member contribute according to their skillset.

• ·        Determine and meet deadlines- Completing large projects with multiple components can feel overwhelming. The best way to approach the project is to break it into pieces and set a schedule with periodic deadlines. Working on the project for a specified amount of time each day or week will prevent waiting until the last minute to complete the project.

The CFA Research Challenge is just one example of the many extracurricular activities PLU offers. I found the process of completing this project to be an extremely rewarding learning experience with many lessons learned along the way.

Sean Lechleiter

Pictures of the final competition are not out yet, but please look out for them in the coming posts. 

Thanks for reading and have a great semester you all!

Your friend, 
Pape M. Samba