What did you do this past week?
This past week I spent a fair amount of time going through my textbook, but I had a little bit of trouble staying focused. On the upside, I learned the power of networking and communication through talking to upperclassmen and people from different companies.
What’s in your way?
Nothing major is in my way right now, but I will have a busy week coming up. Time management will be crucial. Exams for my three computer science classes are all happening this upcoming week, so my top priority is to get myself ready for those exams.
What will you do next week?
I will continue to review my notes and class exercises for the upcoming exams. This includes typing out some code, going through the slides one more time, going to the office hours, and watching some helpful online tutorials. I will be staying at my apartment in Austin for the Spring Break, and since South by South West was canceled, I currently do not have a clear idea about what I will be doing for the Spring Break. I think I will take some rest, go around the city, and meet up with some friends before they head home next weekend.
What was your experience of =, *, **, and decorators?
I had absolutely no experience with =, *, **, and decorators before, but Dr. Downing’s way of explanation was really clear and enjoyable. However, I am still a little unsure about the motivations behind these specific functionalities and syntax in Python. It is slightly difficult for me to precisely remember these details now since I haven’t practiced them enough. Friday’s quiz exposed my lack of understanding of these concepts as well. When expressions get long and different things get tangled up, I get lost easily. Proactive efforts are necessary for me at this stage.
What made you happy this week?
I was very happy to get my laptop back from Dell repair. It’s so important to my schoolwork and my everyday life. Plus, in general, losing something and getting it back again is definitely one of the best feelings. I stocked some masks this past week and that made me feel prepared.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
I have learned through this week’s experience that staying focused on the task at hand is key to boosting efficiency when there are a lot of things to do. Sometimes people overthink. This makes things unnecessarily complicated. It is always a good idea to interrupt the brain and remind it to come back to the present while it is stubbornly trying to untangle some stuff that are actually not worthy of any more brain power. For some problems, the more thoughts you put into it, the more confused and anxious you get. Thus, it might be helpful to interrupt yourself from all the mess and take a step back to see the whole picture again.
