In the summer, one of our friends asked me if I can coach a student interested in Computer Science. Given that I already volunteer with Spark SIP connecting high school students with internships, I said Yes. A few weeks rolled by and then I was introduced to the student. I had a few ideas on projects the intern can be working on. It all depends on the strengths the student brings in and the time he / she can allocate.
The student’s name David and he is a Senior at local university majoring in Computer Science. In reality he ought to be preparing for his graduation and seeking employment. So in our first discussion we focused on getting know what are his interests and what he has done. For the project ideas I had, good working knowledge of JavaScript is essential. Besides, I am a big fan of engineers writing things down – be it requirements, design, or reflection notes. Accordingly I encouraged David to work on two things: a) learn JavaScript (use Khan Academy JavaScript introduction resources or otherwise) and b) learn WordPress and write articles.
David got a good start; I met him after a month. He had created a wordpress site – codejourney813.wordpress.com and also had explored JavaScript. I am glad he not only started the site, but also started recording his own reflections and learning there as well. He is off to a good start. In someways I remember my college days when there was an elder member of our college who guided me to work on real projects which helped me. My then mentor, also encouraged me to write up about the projects and participate in competitions which added strength. Now it is a give back time too.
For month 2, I am asking him to prepare and work on three projects in the next six months. He wants to work on applications (Web or Android) and there are several ideas to explore. He will benefit from not just learning but applying his learning to create projects that can deepen his learning. As a consequence his resume will also be stronger demonstrating his passion and learning. Good luck to David for his projects.
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