Computer Science has been my favorite subject since 9th grade. However, I had never learnt a coding language before. Since I want to pursue my career in Computer Science I decided to utilize my vacations completely and effectively and hence I took a good academic course to learn the programming language python. When I started coding, I got engrossed into it so much that I would just sit for hours and hours, coding and learning the new methods and commands.

LO 1 : Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

• One of my other favorite subjects has been math since primary school and coding is an integration of Math, logic and computer science and hence I identified that my strength is logic.  I was able to write codes by identifying the solution to the problem given to me and this required logic and a clear understanding as to which methods to use,which conditional statements to employ and which loops to use.  However, one area of growth that I identified was remembering the statements and syntax. I would often get confused with brackets and indentation too. So, I decided to learn and practice simultaneously using sites like Hackerrank.

LO 3 : Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

• Course that I took had only prescribed hours but it did not have any set time table that I would have to follow. They allowed me to completed as per my time convenience so I had to decide how to complete the course in the given hours which was 30 hours. Considering the hours, I planned to complete the course in about two weeks and I finalized this time by pondering upon the complexity of the course and the number of assignments that they gave after each module. Surprisingly, I completed this course in just 10 days. I had planned that I would give 2 hours to coding everyday, however sometimes I would get so engrossed that I would stretch it to 4 hours. I was very happy that I completed the course earlier than planned. I realized that coding is something that I enjoy and I just don’t know where time goes while doing it.

LO 4 : Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

• Commitment in this activity was not that problematic for me as I enjoyed doing this task a lot. I had planned to do at least 2 hours of coding everyday, even on weekends, and I stuck to this. If I don’t enjoy some task, then it becomes very difficult for me to commit to it, however this was not the case here.

LO 7 : Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

• The course that I took was from codecademy.com. There were some modules that were free, while some that were paid. The paid ones included some extra application problems. I wanted to practice so I was urged to get the paid version. However, here I faced an ethical dilemma as I could have searched online for some pirated version of this paid course. Instead, I practiced academic honesty and bought the original version.

I personally enjoyed completing this course very much. This marks my journey of learning several coding languages. The learner profiles I displayed where thinker and balanced.