Are Extracurricular Activities Helpful For CS Students?
While completing my undergraduate degree in Computer Science, I participated in various extracurricular activities. I was the President of the Computer Science Student Association, participated in a hackathon, gave programming workshops in my community, among other exciting and gratifying experiences. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I recommend a current Computer Science student to get involved in extracurricular activities? The answer to that question is ABSOLUTELY YES.
Extracurricular activities are an excellent opportunity to develop interpersonal skills that you are going to use frequently in the workplace. These skills are essential for a successful professional career as a developer. Today I will share the things that have I have gained by participating in extracurricular activities when I was a Computer Science undergraduate student. Now, let’s get started.
Learned to work with others
During my time in the Computer Science Student Association at my campus, I learned to work with others. I learned to actively listen to others opinions, suggestions and ideas to solve a particular problem. For instance, when we were planning an activity for the members of the association, there was a constant exchange of ideas and perspectives. So, during that time, I learned to understand where others are coming from and work with them to achieve a common goal.
Then, after the discussion of ideas, we developed a strategy to achieve the desired outcome. Which is something I frequently do as a professional. When you work as a software developer in any organization, there is a high probability that you are going to work in a team on a project. Thus, you will need to listen to others opinions and recommendations to deliver a product that fulfills’s the client’s request.
Developed and practiced my communication skills
Working amongst my team members in various projects in the Computer Science Student Association I had to learn how to communicate my ideas in a clear and concise way. On the other hand, I had to learn how to listen to others ideas and respect their point of views. Which in the workplace happens very often. Another extracurricular activity that helped me develop my communication skills was going to a hackathon. Participating in a hackathon has helped me work in teams and communicate my ideas as well. On a hackathon, you are given an amount of time to plan and deliver a minimum viable product.
During this process, I learned to code alongside other developers and communicated my ideas. Which is what you do on the job as a developer on a daily basis. I also had to listen to my teammate’s opinions, recommendations and work with them to develop a minimum viable product (MVP) to present to the judges.
Prepared me for professional projects
Working on projects professionally is very similar in working on projects in extracurricular activities. Sure, you are not getting paid to execute the projects that are planned in the student organization, but you have members that are expecting activities that enrich their professional development. Which in my opinion, is just like delivering a tangible product to an employer or stakeholders in the current project.
In hindsight, extracurricular activities are an outstanding opportunity for Computer Science students to prepare themselves for the workplace. These activities allow students to develop communication and interpersonal skills that will take them a long way in their professional careers.
Thus, setting up their careers for success.
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Originally published at yadielcabrera.com on June 30th, 2018.
