Building the Foundation

During our team discussion, we brainstormed several possible capstone ideas and talked through what each project might look like. Some of the ideas included a cat-themed social networking application that would help pet owners connect, a text-based TTRPG adventure game that could potentially incorporate AI, a virtual home design environment similar to CAD software, and a student planner web application designed to help students organize their academic schedules and responsibilities.

This week focused heavily on professional development and long-term planning. In CST 300, I continued working on my ethics essay regarding whether companies should be allowed to pay ransomware demands. I also completed a stakeholder argument discussion using AI and reflected on how providing better context and more specific prompts led to stronger results for me.

In CST 349, I reviewed the CSUMB career resources and completed a resume and cover letter tailored toward a software engineering internship. This activity helped me think about how to present my technical experience, education, and leadership activities in a professional format. Reviewing career preparation materials reinforced the importance of maintaining an updated resume and developing professional communication skills. We were also assigned a group final presentation on a technical topic. My team continued planning our final presentation project on why AI-generated images and videos sometimes seem “off.” We discussed how we would divide responsibilities among team members and began organizing research, slide development, scripting, recording, and editing tasks. Working through this process provided valuable experience in project planning and collaboration.

Another major accomplishment this week was creating the shell for my Individual Learning Plan (ILP) portfolio website. Building the site helped me organize my future coursework and provided a foundation that I will continue updating throughout the remainder of the CSUMB Computer Science program. Additionally, Arapahoe Community College officially conferred my Associate of Science in Computer Science degree this week, making this an especially meaningful milestone in my academic journey.