Where Will Software Engineering Take Me
01 Sep 2023
What’s Software Engineering?
Even at the time of writing, I still don’t have a clear understanding of software engineering, as I am not so much of a reader, but a doer, and doing is something I have not done yet. I do not have much experience in this field other than the classes I have taken; thus, I can appreciate every and anything that I am learning about in software engineering. If anything, I would say my current goal is to feel confident in being competent at something, whether it be coding in a particular language, understanding the software engineering process, or exposed to the full-stack development process.
Skills and Experiences: Starting Now
As mentioned, I do not have any past internships, skills, or personal passions that developed any particular expertise in something. However, I hope taking ICS 314 will introduce me to a variety of software engineering tool sets as stated in the learning outcomes. Additionally, at the time of writing, I am about to begin a three-month internship with the Air Force Office of Sponsored Research on Nano-analytics. While it is in the field of data science, I’m sure it will provide me with valuable experience in general, and hopefully what I am learning in ICS 314 about software engineering will be relevant and/or applicable to my internship, and vice versa.
Where to Go From Here
Thinking in the near and far future, as my interest lies in cybersecurity, I hope to participate in one of the annual cyber defense competitions. As a career goal, I hope to be commissioned in the Air Force as a cyberspace operations officer. Post-commissioning, I have the potential options to branch into offensive/defensive cyber operations or network/expeditionary communications. All of the options sound enticing to me; however, at the moment, none are which I feel, currently, remotely competent to even consider, despite the training I will receive to be placed in one of those fields. Therefore, before graduating, I am also looking at acquiring some cyber certifications such as CompTIA’s A+, Network+, Security+, etc. In general, I want to be able to say I have the skills and experience necessary to succeed.