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Farewell-CS3216

As stated, CS3216 will become a history forever from tomorrow onwards. Wish the spirit still keeps going on.

Honestly, I like the course very much. Not only because I met and worked with so many astonishing people in the class, but also because the course changed my perceptions and probably my life.

Before writing the personal statement, I already prepared to die in the class. I knew the nasty course will be very challenging and bring me many sleepless nights. The reality turns out to be better than expected. Yes, it is challenging to me and I worked late at night, but not as bad as worked overnight.

It's a pity that Prof. Ben will never teach the course any longer. I'd like to recommend nasty courses to friends who really want to learn sth. Actually I've already recommended some of my friends to take CS3217. Hope they'll be brave enough to take the challenge. I find people who have attended that course are much stronger in programming skills and more deliberate in software principles. I'd like to train my hard code skill in a nasty way, but unfortunately I'm going for SEP and will not be able to attend CS3217. I believe for sure now that nasty courses make people strong.

Looking back to my first blog. I wrote something like "I'm sure I can learn a lot along the way, teamwork, time management, stress control,etc. But compared with the initiative I take and the courage I make to take the challenge, I think everything else is secondary. " 

I think it might be my risk-taking character that makes me one of CS3216ers. I'm really thankful that Prof. Ben gave the chance to be in the class. I really learnt a lot along the way. Though I didn't learn as fast as many of the peers in CS3216, I managed to the web programming skills one by one in the continuous projects. Before CS3216, I knew nothing about web programming. But now, I played a leading role in some school web programming projects(like a hypermarket software system project and a property search project). Though my PHP codes sometimes are still buggy and I'm still not very familiar with javascript DOM, I'm sure I can gradually make it better. It takes time, probably 10,000 hours to be a real expert.  I gradually get that idea that this course is about teaching us to create fish when there is no fish. Mobile and Cloud are the future and I think I'm in the right direction.

Teamwork.  I've got to say it's been great to work with so many different people here in the class. I met a pharmacist(Leon) who codes much better than I do, elite programmers who are very clear in logic and write bug-free codes, etc. Peer learning is sometimes more efficient than the lectures&tutorials. It's a pity that I didn't work with a designer for the three projects. Though I tried to work with a designer in the last project, she's already occupied. But I enjoy the days coding together with my team mates in COM1:-)

Time management. I don't think I'm better at time management than before. But I learn things faster, especially self-learning. I don't have to attend every lecture to fully understand the topics in class. I can better study and google on my own now than before.

Stress control. Well, I'm sort of person who will never push myself too hard. I'll find out some way to release my stress. For instance, after the final show case, I came back home and watched  ancient-costumed soup opera for the whole night...Maybe stress control should not appear in the first place...


Actually, the most important lesson I've learned in the class is to understand the REAL WORLD. It's very different from the pure academic environment here. It's complicated. We've got to do sth good to the world to make it a better place for everyone.


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Something I need to reflect.

1. I've got to admit that I'm a lousy leader. I didn't allocate jobs very well. Though I know people's strength , I didn't make full use of the potential people can contribute. I myself did not work hard enough to motivate team mates. I cannot communicate. I cannot even sell! Though I strongly believe that our product is good and going to be great in the future and my team mates are of the greatest, I cannot get my message across to everyone. There will always be people doubting and criticizing. People's doubts make me think further, but also discourage me and make me more doubting about myself. Unfortunately, the negative impact seems to be stronger. I become even more self-doubting. My words and actions sometimes turn out different from my heart. I cannot make serious decisions. I remembered someone said in the class that one should know his/her own role--either a CEO or a CTO, but not both. Maybe I'm not suitable for a CEO yet.

2. Some of my values are distorted. For instance, I didn't know the importance of copy rights before classmates warned me during the presentation. Fortunately, I corrected it before getting into prison. CS3216 is for engineers to solve real problems rather than to make money. I didn't realize the importance of solving people's pains before releasing our final app to users. It's true that many people used our app and read book in our app. However, it's just not painful enough for people to use the app everyday. It creates values, but may not be influential.

3. Self-illusion. I am not understanding myself enough and I'm easily influenced by other people's thoughts. Calm down and listen to some Mozart's may help.

Farewell, CS3216.

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