Joined

I joined my first two groups of TechHui. The first group is UH ICS Students. This group is to focus on the needs of UH ICS undergraduate and graduate students. I like the idea of this group. Every student needs some type of support. Each student enters the program with different strengths and abilities. They are all at different levels when it comes to languages, programming, and understanding. The second group is UH ICS Mentors. This group is to bring together University of Hawaii ICS Alumni (and anyone else) interested in mentoring current UH ICS students. This group gives me a feeling of trepidation. Can I be a helpful mentor? Will I myself be able to answer the different type of programming questions? Have I advanced to that level of being a mentor? I just don’t want to be a detriment to a student. It’s probably fear and I need to get over it. I’m probably further along then I realize.

I like the idea of these two communities. It would have been nice to have them around and established when I entered the program. I came in unfamiliar with languages, programming, and how to understand it. The Professors and TA’s helped some but they were responsible for many students. I tried to find a professor to be an advisor and mentor to guide me through the ICS program but it didn’t work out that way. It took me a few tries to get through some classes and move on in the program. I didn’t grasp the information of what I was learning until I met Aaron and took ICS 413 and 414. I began pair programming and learned to think for myself and not rely on others to get me started. I discovered you learn by hacking and trial and error. It would have been extremely helpful to have this when I entered the program. That’s why these groups are good.