CS373 Fall 2020: Pranav Akinepalli
Hey everyone! My name is Pranav and this is my first blog post for CS 373!
Where did you grow up?
I was actually born in Livonia, Michigan but moved to California after a year and then Irving, Texas after about another year. Ever since then, I’ve grown up here in Dallas and have lived in the same house. Since it’s a 3 hour drive to Austin, I usually stay off-campus during the semester so that I can go to my classes (however, I’m staying at home for now due to the current situation).
What was your favorite extracurricular activity in high school?
I went to Coppell High School (in Coppell, Texas) and my favorite extracurricular activity (as cliche as it sounds) was hosting our school’s computer science club after-school. Especially towards the end of high school, I ended up taking a lot of AP classes so this club was a way for me to sort of wind down and practice some coding problems. It was also great to be able to teach the members on how to code and best practices. Attending various coding competitions was also exciting, especially since we got to compete in teams representing the school!
Why are you majoring in CS?
My dad also majored in computer science and is currently working in the software industry. As any kid would say, I always wanted to do what my dad did (although I had no idea what he actually did). So naturally, I was leaning towards computer science in high school and signed up for the beginner CS class offered. The summer before 10th grade (when I took that class), my dad offered to teach me how to code and tried to get me started with Python. Honestly, I couldn’t understand anything and thought that maybe the field wasn’t for me. However, after taking the class and learning the material properly (sorry dad), I became super interested in coding and found it to be really fun. I liked trying to find the solutions to problems and once I started thinking about one, I wouldn’t really stop and kept itching to get back to my computer so I could try out a new approach I thought of. Following from that, choosing to major in CS was an easy choice.
What are your expectations of this class?
I joined this class, of course, to fulfill my requirements of taking CS Upper Divisions to graduate but specifically this course because I felt like it would provide me with very valuable experiences to take with me after college. I have heard great things about this class and Professor Downing so I’m really excited to see how things go. I think this class will be best in providing me with practical skills that I can make use of even in my next internship!
How did you like the two lectures?
The first two lectures were great! I’m optimistic about how this semester will go and really hope to learn a lot. I think some parts of the lectures could have been better if were able to perhaps see the code or environment being set up and run on the spot. However, I’m sure that this is only the beginning and am curious to see how we will learn about the topics listed in the syllabus.
How did you feel about the cold calling?
I’m not going to lie, it does make me a bit anxious (probably since this is the beginning). However, it is absolutely a great system to have. Professor Downing’s intentions are in no way to make you look dumb or anything like that. Instead, it’s an opportunity to have a conversation with him and make the class feel much more personal. Admittedly, I find myself feeling much more attentive and engaged because of the cold calling. Especially in a virtual environment, it is almost necessary to make the class much more fun and exciting.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
I am currently working towards my AWS Developer Associate Certification and I’ve been learning so much about how to use AWS from a developer’s perspective (including all the available tools and features provided). I think one that stands out for my pick-of-the-week has to be the CodePipeline service. After working on cloud data pipelines in my last internship, I just wonder about using this feature as it automates the entire CI/CD process and allows for quick updates and bug fixes for any application. It seems like a very useful and time-saving feature, especially in implementation.
