DEV Community: Matthew Jensen

Bless this Desk

Matthew Jensen — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:25:49 +0000

Alright, here's a confession- I've always been kind of a messy person. I know it's not uncommon, but it's always a little embarrassing to admit. It's constantly reinforced that messy or slovenly people aren't professional or successful (despite the many examples to the contrary). Well, part of my current resolutions are that I want to be much tidier than I have in the past, and there's no better place to start with than where you work.

How's it going? Well, not amazing right now, as I'm currently staring shamefully at the several dishes piled up from breakfasts, lunches, and dinners past. But that's only one part of the picture- I'm also going to be moving to Greenville in the beginning of February! Which will definitely change up my whole desk situation by quite a bit- I'll be going from a lovely wood desk to what will mostly likely be a plastic folding table instead.

Luckily for me, the work laptop and high end PC I use will be the same. And well, good desks don't make for better code (directly). Instead, I'll need to focus on the changes I can make to improve my work. It'll be a shift for sure- my work up until this point has been largely reactive, like helping customers or answering phones. School has given me experience, but while I did well in school, good project and time management was not something that stuck with me. Additionally, with my new move away from family, it'll be all up to me to manage both a fresh start and a change in career.

What I'm going to start with is good bones - a to do list and a calendar. With these two tools, my time management is going to go through the roof. I'm already starting with Notion, a note taking slash wiki type app that lets you make all sorts of cool organizational tools. It's pretty awesome, and it's what I'll be working on after I'm done with this blog post. So I'll get right to it!

The Software Engineer's Apprentice

Matthew Jensen — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 01:37:21 +0000

It's the first week down for my apprenticeship here with Build Carolina, and so far it has not been at all what I was expecting. Instead of diving headfirst into a technology stack and reviewing the ABC's of programming, our courses have mainly been an overview of organizations and business fundamentals. Which frankly, is appreciated- the thing I need less of is going over what an if statement is, and more of how my skills can become valuable to an organization.

It's a little nerve wracking, to be honest- I'm concerned I won't live up to my own lofty expectations, something I expounded on in my letter to myself. But it's also nice to have a supportive group - the small class size means that I am already starting to get a feel for the personalities and interests of the people I'll be with these next six months. So to meet both my and my fellow apprentices' expectations, I need to strategize!

To start with, I plan on getting to bed much earlier so I can have both more energy in the mornings and more time for when I'm most productive. I also will be removing devices that might distract me, and will also start taking my work to the local library to help get me in a better place to focus. For now, that is a great first step to making this new lifestyle sustainable.

Hello World!

Matthew Jensen — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 02:12:29 +0000

For a long time now, I've been meaning to chronicle my experience learning about software development. I find myself reading and watching learning material constantly, but I never have any proof of the work of the time I spend learning. That's why I'm so happy that my new apprenticeship with Build Carolina has made it part of their curriculum to do exactly that. It makes me feel confident that their methods and goals will be aligned with mine!

This apprenticeship is a very exciting opportunity for me, a second chance at gaining the real world experience that I missed when I did not apply for an internship during college. My education gave me a lot of knowledge on software engineering, networking, and computational theory, but this is my chance to learn how I can make real computers work to change the real world I live in. It's been a joy meeting my fellow members of the cohort, and I hope to make some lasting connections that take me far in this industry. I'll work hard to make this program great for them too!