I learnt...

• how to use GitHub. The first time I created a pull request on GitHub, it was intimidating. But now, I feel much more confident in using Git. I really appreciate the workflow and how it allows coders to collaboratively work on the same project. By letting others review my code and reviewing others' code, I have learned a lot.

• what tickets are. Took me a little longer than I'd like to admit to realise what "tickets" are.

• how to write clean code. From watching Uncle Bob's videos, which were introduced to me by an experienced developer, I learnt one school of thought regarding coding practices.

• the importance of a good work space. This is something I didn't think was as important before. I learnt the value of keyboard shortcuts, essential keyboard configurations (e.g. changing the Caps Lock key to Control for easy access of keys), time-saving development environment plugins, and ways to make the terminal easier to work with (e.g. Fish, Oh My Zsh). Apart from these practical tips, I found that each developer in the start-ups had their own individualized desk things (i.e., clickety-clack keyboards, mouse/touchpad, fidget toys, headphones, fun mugs), which spoke to each developer's personality and inspired me to invest in a set of my own.

• how to use an Apple laptop. Being cheap, I never owned a personal Mac laptop prior to working in these start-ups. Using an Apple laptop for work has successfully convinced me to purchase my own Apple laptop.

• how to strive for a CI/CD or Agile work flow. This involves automating tests as much as possible to shorten the systems development work cycle. I remember, at one point, I had to implement end-to-end tests by simulating what a user would do for various use cases to make the development cycle more efficient.

• what project management looks like. The different start-ups used different project management systems like Trello, Jira, and Notion. In appreciation of the satisfaction of moving the tasks to done, I have also incorporated these systems into my personal life as well via Notion.

My university final year project aimed to improve university students' learning experience in group design work through designing a peer assessment system that focuses on learning instead of assessing.

Summary of my project

Unequal distribution of work is one of the key causes of a negative learning experience for students working in groups. The existing WebPA system in Meng Design Engineering is prone to bias, subjectivity, and manipulation, making it unfair. This project aims to improve university students’ learning experience in group design work through designing a peer assessment (PA) system that focuses on learning as opposed to assessing. In testing, it was observed that students want to be able to share qualitative feedback with each other. The findings can contribute future developments of fair PA systems and the department’s pedagogy transformation.

Fundraising for a mental health charity, Mind

Thanks to the contributions of all the donors, we raised over 600 pounds for Mind (a mental health charity)!

To raise funds and awareness, in 2019, I documented my running training journey through a Facebook blog, where I shared self-illustrated short comics and photos with supporters. Here I've embedded all the posts which I drew a comic for:

Looking back, I am quite proud of what I did. I hope to do something similar later, but I think I am going to give running a pause for now. Maybe someday I will do a full marathon, but till then!