CS373 Fall 2020: Andrew Deng

Hello! I’m Andrew, and this is my introductory blog post for the semester.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Plano, TX. Nice, quiet place with a pretty good school district.

What high school did you attend?

I was a student at Plano Senior High School.

What was your favorite extracurricular activity in high school?

I was in my school’s drumline, marching band, full orchestra, wind ensemble, steel drum band, and percussion ensemble. Music is a passion of mine, so I really enjoyed those activities. I’m also currently a member of The Pans of Texas, UT’s steel drum band. (Check us out: www.facebook.com/pansoftexas)

Why did you come to UT?

I came to UT because of its CS program. Seeing how good it was and how much my sister (an alumnus) was able to benefit from it, I knew pretty early on that studying CS at UT was the direction I was going to head after I graduated high school, and here I am.

Why are you majoring in CS?

I initially started programming due to my sister’s influence, but I’ve learned to care about this field myself, and now I’m looking forward to contributing to projects and products that help move our technology forward.

Why are you in this class/What are your expectations of this class?

In the past 3 summers, I have worked on projects where I needed to learn new technologies and use them to create a piece of software, and each time I felt like I was feeling my way through the process blindly. I’m hoping that this course will help me develop both the skills and confidence to create software that works efficiently and with quality.

How much Javascript/Python/Web programming do you already know?

My experience with Javascript comes primarily from React and/or React Native. I know enough to get around some simple coding problems. Python is the language I primarily use to practice coding problems, but I’ve never used it practically, so implementing things like classes in Python is something I’ve yet to be familiar with.

How did you like the two lectures?

I enjoyed them so far, especially Friday’s lecture. It was very nice seeing how different the lecture structure feels and how engaging it becomes.

How did you feel about the cold calling?

Once I saw it in action, any worries I had about it went away. It seems on the semi-casual side, which is a big relief, and seeing how it’s essentially a conversation makes me a bit interested in participating.

What made you happy this week?

I currently have a job as a remote CS tutor and seeing a few of my students take more ownership of their projects and becoming more enthusiastic about coding was pleasant.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

Remember, folks: It’s healthy to get around 7–9 hours of sleep a night. I have to remind myself of that fact more than I’d like to admit, but sometimes a good night’s rest can help fix many problems you might have in times of stress.