Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Student Ambassador community voices: Our coding lives

This month, we asked our Student Ambassadors to tell us a bit about the role coding plays in their life and how they deal with coding.

 

Responses have been edited for clarity.

 

 

We asked students to share the results of our new “What coding language are you?” Instagram filter.

 

Student_Developer_Team_0-1632848946308.png

 

Dear reader, which coding language are you?  Take the "test" and share your results in the comments section below! 

           

How many hours a week do you spend doing something tech-related or thinking about some aspect of tech?

 

 

“A lot!”

--Gino Messmer

 

 

Since many of our Student Ambassadors are in computer science or involved with some tech or engineering-related studies, they spend quite a bit of time immersed in the world of tech.  The hours they reported tend to mostly fall around 20 hours or 40 hours a week with one student indicating 60 hours!

 

 

“As I am doing a tech related degree, I spend most of my time thinking about some aspect of tech or doing something tech related.”

-- Rym Oualha

 

 

“I spend the most time on debugging, because I get to discuss it with my friends, tell jokes, and accomplish missions together.”

--Raymond Wangsa Putra

 

 

How many hours a week would you like to spend doing this ideally?  In other words, do you think that number is too high, too low, or just right?  Tell us why you think so.

 

Nearly all respondents indicated their figure was just right or not enough.  No one stated that they were spending too much time doing or thinking about tech.

 

 

“I think I’m doing okay.  It would be great if I could find time to do a little more.”

--Dhanya Hegde

 

 

“It depends.  The average is just right, but during exam period, it’s literally a lot!  Hahahaha.”

--Jose Martinez Lago

 

 

“I think I spend the right amount of time doing tech-related work because it leaves me with just enough time to do complete my university assignments, take care of my health, cooking and spend some time with my family and friends.”

--Vidushi Gupta

 

 

“I would like to spend more hours because once you learn about new technology, it seems like you are entering into an infinite loop where every concept excites you to learn more. “What's next? What will happen if I do this?””

--Megha Vishwakarma

 

           

What do you do when you’re frustrated with a piece of code (or with anything else)?

 

Taking a break is the overwhelming approach our students take when dealing with frustration.  Some even find that napping is a strategy that works well for them!

 

 

“I try to take a break, breathe, make some coffee, and look deeply into what difficulties I’ve encountered, but more importantly, I try to not procrastinate.”

--Hadil Ben Amor

 

 

“I try reading, watching some videos related to that topic, and if it’s not working, then I use my next weapon, and that’s a power nap.  It’s just amazing because every time I try this, it works amazingly. After a nap, the error is just gone or my mind is just filled with new strategies or ideas. So it’s worked well for me.”

--Shweta Malhari Thikekar

 

 

“I allow myself to ponder over the error for an hour (at max) or I prefer sleeping over the error because it helps me come up with a whole new strategy and it works well for me. I wake up and boom, I could solve the error.  (P.S. It provides the needed rest to my body too).”

--Vidushi Gupta

 

 

“One thing that helps me is working out or just moving a little bit when my mind reachs certain limit. “Mens sana in corpore sano” [translation: “a healthy mind in a healthy body”]

--Jose Martinez Lago

 

 

Do you work best in silence or with sound in the background?  If with sound, what kind of sound?

 

While there are students who prefer silence, we do have a lot of music lovers in the community.  Here are some of their preferences:

  • instrumental music
  • soothing, light music
  • 90’s or 80’s jazz
  • classical music
  • calm indie pop music

 

“Classical music.  Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2” is my favorite.“

-- Raymond Wangsa Putra

 

 

“Well, it totally depends on my mood and situation. Sometimes I really need slow music with a relaxing beat which helps me when I am bored and stressed out. If I am working on some very serious work and the deadline is near, I prefer to work in silence because I can’t focus on work when having sound or noise or music that distracts me.”

--Anupam Mishra

 

 

“Listening to light music brings joy, and hours of work seem effortless.”

--Ankit Datta

 

 

“I cannot code without music. I don’t mind which kind of music, but I need to be listening to music. My brain works better when music is flowing in!”

--Jose Martinez Lago

 

                       

Share a picture of your work area/set-up where you code

 

Student_Developer_Team_0-1632853225923.png

 

Notice that everyone’s work station is so tidy!

 

Vidushi Gupta arguably has the best view from her workspace:

Student_Developer_Team_2-1632849707979.png

 

Thanks for joining us this month!  See you in October.

 

If you’re not yet a Student Ambassador but are considering becoming one, don’t delay a moment longer.  Learn more about our wonderful community now! 

 

And Student Ambassadors, we’d love to hear your voice in the next Community Voices blog.  Keep your eyes peeled on our Teams site for our monthly blog announcements. 

 

Posted at https://sl.advdat.com/3uopbQO