John Schnoebelen

Cumulative Reflection – From then to now

I was nervous, my parents had just dropped me off at my first college dorm here at Iowa

State University, classes would be starting in less than a week, and I had declared my major of

computer engineering. I always had an interest in electronics and computers, in high school I

participated in Lego Robotics and built a custom desktop PC from ordering parts online. Here at

college however, I was nervous because I never had any programming experience prior to

college, it was something that always interested me, but I never knew how to start. So instead

of almost choosing electrical engineering, I figured why not give computer engineering a try.

The first programming class I took was CprE 185, although I had to dedicate more time then

others in this course, I really enjoyed the beauty and freedom that was incorporated with

programming. In programming, there is an endless number of ways one can solve a problem

but figuring out which is the most efficient to achieve success was something I never get tired

of.

That first decision to go out of my comfort zone and try something new, such as programming,

was something I carried with me from my time here at Iowa State. Most of my time outside of

school was spent in the Iowa State Marching Band, with daily rehearsals and new show tunes

every home game, band quickly taught me the importance of time management and seeking

help when needed. During my freshman year I took advantage of the multiple resources that

Iowa State provides to help me with my studies, such as SI, tutoring, and office hours. My

freshman year taught me so much, both in and outside the classroom, and really set me up for

success in my future years to come.

Something that I’ll always carry with me in life is the importance of good communication with

others. At Iowa State, I’ve been a part of numerous group assignments and projects which

required us to work together, and my most successful teams were the ones where all of us

were fully engaged and communicated well on who was doing what. Everyone has their own

set of strengths and weaknesses, and when you work in a well-managed team, those strengths

can be combined to create something great. Group projects were some of the best learning

experiences and I’m glad Iowa State provided the resources necessary to help us succeed.

One of the things that I believe Iowa State does well, is preparing engineering students for

future careers beyond college. Every year there are numerous workshops on resumes,

interviews, and professionalism, which helped me obtain a part-time job in the IT center at

Iowa State, and eventually my first internship from the Engineering Career Fair with American

Family Insurance as a software developer.

At American Family Insurance, our team used the scrum process model to manage our product

work. This Agile mythology was previously taught to me from my coursework in Coms 309, on

process models, requirements analysis, structured and object-oriented design. Another class

which helped me at my internship was Coms 228, which taught me how to write unit tests,

something I frequently did when fixing defects at my internship.

As I reflect on my time here at Iowa State, I realize how much I’ve learned in the past 3 years,

both in and outside the classroom. What it means to be a moral engineer, and how to carry

myself as one as I enter the work force this coming June. Although my college time flew by, my

learning won’t end here at Iowa State, I’ll always be striving to improve my skills as a
programmer, as both a hobby and a career, as we enter a new age of a technology infused

world.