Reflecting on Databases

 Relational databases eliminate the redundancy of spreadsheets and create a system that can be easily queried to obtained higher level information from the data they contain. These queries could not be achieved as simply by spreadsheet algorithms. For the class database project we used CORGIS for our clean data. Initially we ran into issues with deciding on which data set made the most sense to use due to only needing three tables maximum. 

At first we chose SAT scores and then pivoted to Airlines. I do regret not selecting a more stream lined data set because the Airlines data set was appropriate but it came with way more attributes than we were prepared to handle. I will say I found all of the information that Dr. Dietrich provided on databases extremely helpful. For assignments and in class exercises we were using Dr. D’s Databasesformanymajors website to help us understand how databases work and how we could begin to design one. 

I had to learn to use SQLite to host/build the database. It was a bit of a challenge since we were importing the data from the CORGIS CSV file. I also had trouble exporting the sql file because SQLite encrypted the file so my partner and I were definitely struggling to get use to SQLite and build the database together from different locations. I will say when all was said and done it remained clear to me that hosting the data set in a database was the easiest and most efficient way to query the data versus spreadsheets and even a python script for the CSV file.

Learning about databases hasn’t really influenced my future plans but it does give me confidence in my ability to store and query data properly in the future. The course has cemented my feelings of preferring databases versus traditional programming. I don’t know if my new found skills will be of use any time soon but I believe it could come in handy in the next few years as I progress in my career and into graduate school. I know that if the topic of databases comes up I will know what it is and how it works and that feels good. 

Why I Make Time For Me

 Hello friends, we have been focusing a lot on mental wellbeing in our class lately. I am incredibly grateful to be exposed to information that reminds me that I am a human who needs breaks and time to decompress. Something I have come to learn is that I can not do it all, and that is ok! It took my health to see that. I put everything above myself and my health and it has taken longer to gain my health back then it did to almost ruin it.

You see, diabetes is the only inheritance that I will get from my family. When I entered community college, I was ambitious and hit the ground running. I wasn't used to the schedule and the workload and I truthfully wasn't balancing everything well. I had my two young kids and full time school and still having to run a home. And then I jumped into the amazing opportunity of research. From there everything kind of snow balled in good ways and bad ways.

 I was a 4.0 student, winning awards, and scholarships. My kids were thriving, my home was a bit messy but could have been worse. You know what was worse? My health. In a year I had gained at least 50 lbs, I'm not even sure how much I actually gained because I truly didn't notice. I know that sounds crazy but I was so consumed by school and life that I forgot about myself out side of my mind and work. I finally took a step back and had to acknowledge that if I didn't make a change that I would have diabetes sooner than later and I couldn't do that to my kids if I could avoid it. 

I had to say it out loud. "I can either be a 4.0 student, have a clean home, happy kids, or be healthy" something had to give, because I couldn't do it all. Well I relaxed on the cleaning and passed some chores onto my husband and the kids and I made time for me to move and workout instead of being in front of a computer and notebook all day. Now at ASU, I am no longer a 4.0 student and I truly don't mind. I am so much healthier and happier. I am still not where I was heath wise before I lost myself in school and life, but I am getting there. I often reflect that I took only one year to almost wreck my health and it has so far taken over three years to get it back. Please make time for yourself and your health! It is so easy to let your health go, but trust me, it will take a lot of time and hard work to get it back. Stay well my friends!

Persisting in STEM

 Hello friends, I have a great question that I am going to try and answer from my perspective and with everything I've learned so far.

 How do we persist in STEM despite the obstacles and challenges? 

Despite the fact that I had almost no role models in STEM growing up, I let my curiosity guide me, and honestly it hasn't failed me yet. I think it is also important to let go of the indoctrination of everything needs to be perfect and failures are to be avoided at all cost. Let's be realistic, nothing is perfect! you can exist in STEM and not be perfect, really you can exist period and not be perfect, because no one and nothing is perfect. I actually find peace and beauty in that, and I hope you will too. We can not truly learn without failures! It is actually a natural progression of learning. Some could argue that we learn better from seeing the failures, the 'what not to do'. If you are always afraid to fail you will never grow outside of your existing knowledge that was build on failures you experienced as a young person, before the world told you you had to be perfect and failure was now something to avoid at all cost. Go grow, be yourself and make mistakes and learn form those failures like nature intended! In the famous words of one of my favorite teachers and STEM role models - Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!

https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Ms._Valerie_Frizzle?file=Mrs._Frizzle.png

Looking Up

 I had an interesting question brought to me today. Did you have any role models that influenced your educational path? 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any personal role models. I mostly had people in my life that showed me who I didn’t want to be or what I didn’t want to do. When I think of what brought me to a STEM education and career I think of TV shows. Sesame Street, Barney, more influential was Bill Nye The Science Guy, The Magic School Bus and any nature documentary on PBS. PBS really caught my attention and brought me into the world of science. I still watch PBS Docs like Nature, Nova, Secrets of the Dead, and Finding Your Roots. It meant so much to me, that I have been a monthly donor for some time now. My hope is that others get exposed to STEM and new experiences outside of their bubble like I did. 

Challenges...

 When I think about how far I have come since I first created this blog I think if all the challenges that brought me here. I think about how hard coding still is for me and all the times I have been asked why don't I just switch majors? But why would I do that? Just because coding is hard for me, does not mean I'll never get it. In fact, I think the challenge coding brings me is what keeps me pushing to earn this degree and become proficient in it. There were times when I wanted to give up, but I knew I couldn't. This is the Growth Mindset! We need to know that we may fail but that is the process and the only real way to learn. When we give up, we really learn nothing. If you struggle with change or challenges then I recommend Dr. Carol Dweck, she has great TED talks on the growth mindset that can be found on YouTube. Thanks for reading and I hope your semester is off to a great start!

Experience

 We have been going over how to translate our academic experience or our past job experience into desirable skills/traits that a future employer is looking for. When I think of my experience so far one of the first thing that comes to mind is Leadership. I have gained leadership skills by being a mother, it’s literally my job to lead my kids but I have also gained leadership skills from working on several research projects two of which I have been the lead on. I also have the desirable skill of being able to work with a team. The research experience has helped here but also most of my classes have group projects and homework. Furthermore I was very active in campus clubs at my CC so I am comfortable working in a large or small teams. Anther important skill I have is I am capable of working on my own, at times I prefer it. I love being self sufficient but I am not afraid to ask for help. I am an amazing communicator. In fact I could not be efficient in all the other areas without great communications skills. Don’t forget to emphasize your soft skills my friends, these are extremely important. 

How I think I want to use my degree and why

 Hello friends! I have an interesting prompt this week. How do I want to use my degree and why. Well this is a multilayered question because I want to use my degree to propel me into grad school. I also want to use my degree to get my foot in the door of potential internships in the area of cybersecurity. I have learned that I am not a big fan of the Applied computing area of my degree but I'm extremely interested in the Cybersecurity focus that comes with my degree. And that is why I will go to graduate school, so I can earn my masters degree in the field of Cybersecurity.  Eventually I will use my masters degree to hopefully secure critical infrastructure. Furthermore, I hope to use my masters degree and experience to earn a PhD. We will see where this road takes me. Stay well my friends and enjoy Halloween 🎃

Update on my online presence

 Hello friends, well here it is https://mrodriq6.wixsite.com/website. My website! It’s not that exciting but I can always update it and change it as I please. Now that we have had several classes and assignments about our online presence I can say mine is better after it all. The website makes such a huge difference in helping me stand out. With a name like mine, I get lost in the crowd on the web. I didn’t add any new social media accounts because between FB and LinkedIn I find it would be counterproductive and I truly feel that my personal website does far more than SM. I think anyone looking for a job or trying to get in a school or special program should make a personal website, highlight yourself and stand out from the crowd. It was free on Wix! And easy, definitely worth a try.

My online presence?

 Hello everyone! Nice to be back and entering my senior year. recently we (in class) have been discussing our online presence and after evaluating mine, I have to admit that it is pretty weak. I currently use Facebook for personal reasons. I love sharing memes, political posts, pictures, and just my random thoughts and opinions. I use LinkedIn in a whole different way. LinkedIn is much more professional for me. I network by adding, searching, and following different companies and influential people in Cybersecurity. I don’t share anything personal there, just my academics and relevant experiences. I have to say that just between those two SM sites I’m exhausted, I’m not sure I could juggle more than those two but it is worth a try. For our TRAin class we will be building a personal website. I will definitely keep you guys updated and share the link when it’s ready. TTYS 

The future...

 1. What are your professional goals, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years into the future? What will accomplishing these goals let you do? How will accomplishing these goals impact those around you and what will it make possible for those in your community? 

My professional goals for 1 year would be to be enrolled in grad school and to have an internship in cybersecurity secured. For 5 years, I would say that my goal would be to have a stable career that continues to grow. I hope that I continue to learn and develop my skills. In 10 years I hope to be in a position of leadership, wether that is in industry or in academia. Accomplishing these goals would mean socioeconomic stability and independence for me and my family. Accomplishing theses goals impacts everyone around me, I intend to be in a career where I can make a positive difference in peoples lives. I want to protect all people form cyber threats.  

2. What are societal challenges that matter to you that you think it's important to deal with now? What do you think are the challenges that will matter 10 years in the future, and 20 years in the future? How do you think these challenges will be addressed, and what will need to happen to make sure that they are?

I think that global warming and micro plastic contamination are the some of the most important challenges that face everyone on the planet. I believe that these two issues will still be a major concern in ten years and even twenty years, even if we make changes to mitigate the issue. I think education is huge here. If the average person cannot understand basic terminology then they will not be able to address the issue. If people can't understand the issue how can they fix it and why would they care. 

3. What is something that makes you optimistic about the future, and why? This could be something big and impersonal (improving price of Li-ion batteries) or something small and personal (a new pet). Please describe how it feels to focus on this thing that makes you optimistic, and discuss whether you think it is a good idea to be intentional about being optimistic. 

Something that makes me optimistic is that most people understand that progress is the answer, that we must continue to evolve and that change is nature. We can not stagnate as a species, we have to come together and continue to push civilization forward, whether that means new governments or completely new ideas for society, I feel pretty certain that we will continue to raise humans that want more and want to move forward. 

Everything I still don't know...

 1. What did you know about your field 3 years ago, and what have you learned about that has 'wowed' you? (Supplemental questions: What did you used to think was an advanced topic in your subject, and what do you think is now? What was the experience that you feel you learned the most from?)

2. What do you want to learn about over the next 3 years? (Is it scientific or personal? Why do you want to learn it? How do you plan on developing this knowledge?)

I knew close to nothing about my field three years ago. When I think back, I thought it was legal hacking and really had no idea what that entailed either. I was wowed this year to find out that hacking, is at best, about 10% of what I might do, I do not have to be a hacker to work in cybersecurity. I think a big focus of cybersecurity should be in social engineering and in attempting to be more offensive vs defensive.  

Over the next three years I want to learn about cyber forensics and principles of cybersecurity that don't necessarily involve coding. This is the first semester that I am actually getting into cybersecurity and its my junior year so I feel I have so much to learn to be a cybersecurity expert. 

The Power of Mentors

 I am writing this blog to express my gratitude to one of my mentors. Dr. Robin Cotter, she has helped me and inspired me on my educational journey in so many ways. Dr. Cotter was the person who got me into undergraduate research. She encouraged me to apply to the TRAin scholarship even when I didn't think I would get it. To my surprise I received the scholarship and not long after Dr. Cotter asked if I would like to join her project and I was beyond happy to join the team. I truly believe without Dr. Cotter's support I would not have found the amazing experience of undergraduate research which has opened so many doors for me. I am so much further in my educational journey than I thought I would be and I am in such a good place that I should be able to graduate with my bachelors with no student debt. I know that I have put so much work and time in but without her guidance and support I don't think I would be so fortunate. Thank you Dr. Cotter, for being my mentor and for being a mother in STEAM that I can look up to, you truly inspire me. Thank your mentors and if you don't have one, I recommend reaching out to that professor that sparks your curiosity and you may just end up with an amazing mentor for life. 

Student mentor Post Spring 2021: Spring break

 Hey everyone! The mixer had a great turn out. I look forward to the day we can do it in person again. So I know midterms are coming and I hope that everyone is managing their time well. If you need any help please email or text me, I will help if I can. I am in the middle of two weeks of midterms since ASU decided that we will not have a spring break due to the virus and because of that I have had my midterms spread over two weeks. Which might sound nice but I find it a bit stressful because I am still getting homework in other courses but I'll get through it, we all will. I hope the projects are going well, if anyone needs to see examples of papers please just ask I am happy to share my past work and experience. Stay safe guys.  

Student Mentor Post Spring 2021: Come to the Mixer! You'll regret it if you don't

 Hey everyone! Once again sorry about my absence last week but I was completely engulfed in funeral stuff. I am back and although I am extremely busy this week with midterms and parent teacher conferences for my kids, I wanted to take this time to remind you about the mixer this Friday. Yes this FRIDAY! While I understand that the mixer is virtual, once again, which is kind of a bummer. I want to stress what an amazing opportunity this is. The professors at ASU are taking so much time out of their extremely busy day to meet with you. They come to answer any and all questions you might have and it is a great chance to meet a potential mentor. These professor are looking for new interns and even if you do not conduct research there is a big chance that they will be one of your course professors when you transfer. Get to know them a head of time before you are just a face in a sea of 60 plus students. Honestly take it from me and other train scholars, don't let this chance pass you by. It can be hard to find a mentor once you are lost in that big crowd. And do not be intimidated, last time this was very informal and you can move to any 'table' that you find interesting. I may be in and out because I have a cybersecurity conference that I am attending that day but thankfully it is virtual so I hope to see all of you there on Friday. 

PS think of questions to ask the potential mentors now like What are they currently working on? What do they expect of the interns? Courses you need so you can be ready? Specific questions about your degree program, really almost any thing you can think of they are willing to answer. 

Student Mentor Post Spring 2021: Get REU applications in ASAP!

 Hey everyone! Good to be back, I think I may have missed the first blog, I apologize. My family, like many others, has been impacted by COVID. I have been dealing with some more bad news and prepping for a funeral next week. Sorry for bringing the mood down but I just want some level of understanding, we all have lives and things going on so be gentle with yourself and be safe. 

For this post I really want to emphasize the importance of summer REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates). REUs can give you that critical experience that you need for the real world and it exposes you to new skills that you can use in your career. They are great opportunities to network and  build your CV and or resume. If you are attending grad school you should participate in an REU, they give you an edge and basically make you a well rounded candidate. Most REUs are due by the end of this month, some are already closed! Don't wait and don't miss out on an amazing opportunity. P.S. many REUs are still virtual and almost all offer a stipend (get paid over summer to master your craft)!!!

Check out this link for some NSF REUs!

https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp

Student Mentor Post: It is my finals week... The end is near

 Hello friends, I hope you all had a restful holiday break. This week is my finals week so I am exhausted. I am sure that you all are feeling the same way. I want to wish you all good luck on your finals. We are so close so just muster up the last bit of energy and motivation so you can get to winter break with peace. I want to remind you guys to apply NOW to ASU if you plan to transfer next fall and also apply to scholarships for next fall as well, and to summer research programs. Do all those things now and finish up before the break is over. I encourage you all to apply to The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship/https://www.jkcf.org/our-scholarships/undergraduate-transfer-scholarship/ It closes on January 6, it is pretty extensive so start ASAP. I am a JKCF scholar so if you have question please reach out to me!

https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentNurse/comments/a4dwps/humor_when_youre_ready_for_christmas_but_still/

Student Mentor Past Fall 2020: I need more time!!!

 Hey guys! Hope everything is going well enough. From your blogs it seems that it is. My semester is almost over and I am actually feeling like I need more time! Thanksgiving is next week and that is basically my last day. This semester I have found an amazing learning cite called Udemy. I want to share it with you all because it has been extremely helpful for me. I am currently using it for Java but they have a multitude of courses. Udemy is not free but every other week or so they do flash sales on courses, dropping the prices as low as $10. I paid 16 and some change for mine. It operates like any online learning course, you have videos, exercises, projects, access to Q&As, and it is all at your own pace and once you pay for it you have access to the course for as long as it is available on Udemy, which can be for years. I hope this is helpful. Stay safe!

Student Mentor Post Fall 2020: Do not be afraid....

 Hello my wonderful cohorts! I hope everyone had a nice Veterans Day. I want to share a little some thing with you all. Last Friday, I took a day off for mental health. I mean no social media, minimal TV (had to watch the Mandalorian), no homework, no studying, no class!!!!! No Class!!!!??? What!? That is a huge deal for me, I strive to be on top of my game so missing class feels like I am cheating myself but.... I must say that taking that one day off was glorious and I can see no harm done by taking that time to rest and clear my head. These are stressful times guys. The pandemic is a dangerous rollercoaster we're all on, the online learning environments, and the lack of physical socializing is tremendously hard on all of us. I suggest that we should all take a well deserved day off each semester. Please look at your schedules and find a convenient day for you to just unplug and enjoy the life that you have :) .... I also want to take this time to remind you all to never be scared to reach out and ask for help. I am in contacts with a private tutor so that I can get that one on one help that I need to be successful in Java. Your are your biggest advocate! Stay safe my friends and remember to blog/discuss every Thursday. 

Enjoy these Mando gifs 😊

https://images.app.goo.gl/Jxqy1xTuMyfjwQyF9.   

https://giphy.com/gifs/starwars-the-mandalorian-TJyLAD1HTmkMmY7vuZ/links

Student Mentor Post Fall 2020: This has been a long and weird week....

 So, this election week is dragging on. Hopefully all of you got out and voted on Tuesday if not before. All I have planned this week is just me racing to finish one of my classes early. When ever the chance presents its self I will finish any class early so that I can devote my last few weeks to polishing up my research project. Since I am not currently conducting research I am going to devote that free time to practicing writing good clean code and preparing for my final in my ACO course. As always remember to blog and discuss on Thursdays and keep pushing through, we're so close to the end of the semester and you guys are doing great.

Student Mentor Post Fall 2020: Great Questions!

 I recently had a scholar reach out to me with some insightful questions and I thought this would be a great place to share my answers. 

Why applied computing vs computer science? 

The honest answer to this is opportunity, TRAin presented itself and applied computing was the only tech major it offered so I ran with it. Having zero experience, I figure what a better way to test out a major than with research and hefty scholarship to lighten my load. It was scary but I think the environment at PC made me feel like I could do it. 

What computer classes did you take at PC that transferred to ASU for your major?

While at PC I took CSC110 - intro to programing, CSC205 - object oriented programing, CSC240 - intro to other programing languages. While I was at PC these classes were brand new to campus, in fact I had to delay graduating to be sure I took them all before transferring in accordance with my MAPP. I could have taken them elsewhere but waited for PC to get them. I advise you to take them else where. I do not feel that I received an adequate or strong foundation from these classes. All of the courses were late start which I advise against taking any programming course in a condensed form unless you have prior developed skills. 

In what way are the applied computing classes challenging?

* big sigh * For me, these are the hardest classes I have ever had to take. I truly enjoy math, and biology, psych, and humanities come easy to me but coding is something that my brain seems to have a hard time grasping. I have taken three classes and now really get the theory but my implementation is still poor. Writing good clean and logical code still eludes me. I am taking an online course to supplement my classes and horrible foundation. There was no tutoring at PC and sadly no tutoring at ASU as well. As hard as coding has been I have not wanted to give up, I think the fact that it is the first thing to really shake me makes me want to master it even more. It is extremely challenging but it can be done. 

I'm taking discrete math next semester, any advice/good resources?

Discrete math is fundamental for programing, I actually enjoyed the class but it can be confusing. My advice would be to work with classmates if you can to study. Reach out to the professor if you are struggling. If you are taking it with Joe at PC, you will be just fine. He offers plenty of extra credit and its all relevant, so you never have busy work. If you still want extra help, I relied largely on youtube for that extra clarity.

What type of computer/laptop setup do you have? Do you need a 13 or 16 inch laptop?

I have never been told what kind of hardware I needed for any of my classes. What you really want is a computer with enough space and speed. Size is really up to you after that. I currently use an iMac 27 in base model and it does the job, I also use a 16 inch HP Pavillion that was like $400 used off amazon that does well too. I am not super techy so when looking for a new laptop I always search google for "Best laptops for programers" then I just compare models from various lists for what I really need and what I can afford. If anyone has better or more sound advice please chime in!

Why did you do biology project for TRAin instead of computer projects?

When I first started TRAin, I was of course not very familiar with coding so it made sense for me to jump into something I knew. I was also invited to work with the amazing Dr. Cotter so I jumped at that chance. I think it was definitely right for me at the time. I could have benefited greatly from joining a computing based project but to be completely honest there was not many options at the time. I think there was one person I could have worked with at PC, but they really had no 'project' going. I decided to conduct all my research at PC for ease but I could have done more offsite. I did get to work on an app based project but I was unable to get major results from that. In hind sight I should have gone offsite for more experience in my major but I am happy with the amazing experience that I did receive at PC.

Why did you decide to do ASU Barrett?

The biggest reason I decided to do Barrett is because I didn't have to pay for it. If I had to pay out of pocket I can promise you I would not do it based on the cost alone. If you can afford it, I recommend it. I will say that the fact that there is a thesis or project made the decision easy for me considering I am in TRAin and the TRAin project could count as my Barrett project so I technically have no extra work and I still get to graduate with honors. I am most likely going for my PhD so I felt that it could be a great experience to complete a thesis as an undergrad. Also Barrett does offer wonderful courses and they have perks like Barrett only lounges and stores, and you can get $1000 in funding for your thesis or project so in a sense you get some of your tuition back.

These were great questions and if I didn't answer them fully please reach out. If anyone else has any questions do not hesitate to ask. :)