Coming into SIUE from Robinson, IL, I knew I wanted to study something that let me build things and solve real problems, that’s what led me to Computer Science. What I dudn’t expect was how much my coursework, projects, and even my job outside of class would shape my skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to file size, I cannot attach the video. However, I can tell you what happened and why it happened. For context, I was working in a group of four to work with MOBOT on a project called “History of the Soil”. Due to some circumstances within the group, two of us were deemed as not doing enough. Because of this, we were assigned to individually make a video regarding the history of MOBOT and its founder, Henry Shaw. During this, I had to interview the Vice President of the garden to aquire information that is not too well known. Because of this experience, I was able to improve my communication skills, interviewing skills, editing skills, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my CS325 course, I built a tool that matches a resume against live job postings using AI embeddings and cosine similarity, essentially automating the tedious part of the job search. This was a semester long project, and during the first half, we were to create the actual embedding service itself. For the second half, we were to refactor our code to follow the SOLID design principles. I also separated the embedding logic into its own interface, containerized with Docker, and set up a CI\/CD to automate testing. This changed how I thought about programming; normally, when the code runs, its done. After this project, I realized that software is built too be changed without breaking, just to improve it. This changed my mindset towards projects since. https:\/\/github.com\/HunterC04\/Project2-CS325<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n For CS382 Game Devlopment, I worked with a two-person team to build a 3D maze-exploration game in Unity, contibuting to level design (building a maze and putting traps that were made prior) as well as menu design and part of the key-collection system. This project taught me something different than Job Matcher: how to build as a part of a team and not as an indivdual. Having to coordinate when someone pushed or pulled from GitHub, who was doing what part, and picking up for others when they could not. This experience helped to reinforce my collaboration skill. One that I am developing over my time in college. https:\/\/github.com\/EEDDY12\/Unlock-the-Depths<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nLearning with others: Unlock the Depths<\/h4>\n\n\n\n