Getting in the right mindset and having a plan before tackling a challenging software engineering course will prepare you for the inevitable hurdles you will face. When encountering new information, approaching the course with the attitude that challenges are exciting and breakthroughs will be rewarding lays the emotional foundation to help you succeed. Like running a race, getting mentally prepared is key to doing your best.
Software engineering courses offer challenges, and overcoming those challenges builds resilience. Resilience—defined as the ability to recover from difficulties—is a quality that will help in all of your future endeavors. No matter where your life and career take you, the technical skills you gain in these courses will give you a leg up in any career within our hyper-digital world.
Developing Soft Skills for College and Career
The world, and the technology we use, changes fast, and any career will require you to learn new skills and adapt continuously. Practice boldly facing challenges and working through them. This will build skills in problem-solving, organization, creativity and resourcefulness. Each time you push through in the face of setbacks, you develop your resilience. It’s like weight training: the more times you lift a heavy weight, the stronger your body gets to lift weights in the future.
A recent study identifies the components of resilience that help undergraduate software engineering students succeed and persist. The study found that believing in one’s ability to solve problems, learning from mistakes, staying focused and setting attainable goals can support students when taking a technical course like Web Development or Cybersecurity.
Resilience for Software Engineering Students
The hard skills, or technical abilities, you will build in software engineering are imperative to your success. However, the soft skills you need to function well in a challenging class or workplace can be the capabilities that help you achieve your dreams and beyond.
1. Use Positive Self-Talk
Believing in your abilities, also known as self-efficacy, is influenced by the dialogue you have in your head. Positive self-talk can improve your attention and academic performance and even help you reduce stress.
Self-efficacy also involves knowing your strengths and limitations, acknowledging your mistakes and having a growth mindset. Your self-talk can help reinforce a realistic understanding of your performance and encourage you to keep going.
If you find yourself thinking in negative patterns, simply notice them and work to change your thinking. Instead of saying to yourself, “I’ll never be able to understand this course material,” change it to, “This material is really hard to understand, so I can break it down into smaller chunks or ask questions.” Realizing when you’re being hard on yourself allows you to flip the script.
2. Own Your Learning - Create and Optimize a Plan
Do you have a learning plan? To prepare for a new subject, research the topic beforehand to feel more prepared. As a student, you are in the driver's seat for managing your time, asking questions when unsure, and seeking help when needed. Organize your schedule, setting aside time for projects and practice. Schedule time to complete coursework so that if you run into problems, you have time to reach out and ask for help. Find and use the support you need to learn the course material - read up on unfamiliar ideas, find a study partner or ask your instructors for resources to help you when you hit roadblocks.
3. Set Reasonable Goals - Try SMART!
Challenge yourself in your course, but break larger goals into smaller tasks to make them manageable. Stretching yourself will help you maximize your learning, but if your goals are too ambitious, you can get discouraged when you fail to meet an unrealistic target. Self-regulation, or tracking your behaviors and emotions, can help keep you on task. Follow the rules for assignments, and set goals that extend your skills. Being content after barely meeting class requirements will make your experience less educational and less rewarding. It’s exciting to try the unknown, work through setbacks and eventually achieve more than you expected of yourself.
When creating a plan, align your plan with SMART goals - try this template recommended by Hubspot.
4. Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation
Finding your own motivation to seek challenges, explore your capabilities and learn new things is exceptionally valuable for software engineering students. Using encouraging self-talk can help stimulate your internal or intrinsic motivation. Uncovering your desire to discover and create is much more empowering than external motivators like college requirements or family pressure to complete a course. Have a few ideas written down for when you might feel discouraged - what will you do instead? Sometimes, its doing something fun and non-challenging for a bit.
CodePath Resources for Students
The above tips can help you prepare mentally and emotionally for an exciting, hands-on CodePath course. With a determination to succeed, you’re likely to find the support that will help you complete the course and build your skills. CodePath has many ways to help determined students from all types of backgrounds succeed in courses, including:
- Step-by-step instructions and a support workspace to complete the pre-work for the course
- In-class and online help with course activities
- Optional office hours with Teaching Assistants
After completing a course, students have access to -
- CodePath community of peer software engineering students and alumni to ask questions and network
- Career services to help find and apply for internships and jobs
- Mentorship from working professionals as you continue your path into a tech career
- Volunteer opportunities or applying as a Tech Fellow to deepen and share your knowledge with the next cohort of students
On the Path to Tech Excellence
Challenge is how you grow, and taking on new challenges in college to expand your skills and self-confidence can boost your academic success and benefit you later in your career. The mindset for success in a software engineering course at CodePath will take you far in the tech industry, as having the confidence and resilience to thrive in an ever-changing job landscape can serve you well for decades to come.
Learn more about having a growth mindset from Amazon software engineer Nicholas Privitera here. Nicholas volunteers with the CodePath Career Center team.
