Andrew Eschweiler

Iowa State University F2019

Cumulative Education Reflection
I started my time at Iowa State in the Fall of 2016 and had assumed the beginning few
years would be fairly simple. I was correct, but the university still did a great job of requiring
courses that taught me information that I would use later down the line. There were many basic
information courses like physics, chemistry, and calculus that weren’t heavily related to my
major, but looking back I am glad I was able to finish those early. I remember learning the C
language for the first time in CprE 185 and Java the following semester. So even with the generic
courses, much of my beginning semesters were well structured and helpful.

It was my sophomore year that things began to pick up pace. Classes had become more
difficult, there was a wide array of content to absorb, and I was more involved on campus then
ever. The class that really changed how I went about learning was CprE 281: Digital Logic
taught by professor Stoychev. This was the first course I had taken that made me manage my
time and congregate with my peers. The final project required so much time to finish that I
scheduled all of my other homework around it, just so I could send a few more hours working in
the lab. Since many of us were working on the same project, I also developed interpersonal skills
as we were testing different ideas and teaching each other how we obtained certain solutions.
These skills would be used in later years as I participate in more and more group projects.

Along with the increase in work I also found an increase of resources. I had joined a
fraternity and some of the older members also had experience in the same major. I look back and
see what a luxury it was to have made friends with people who could help guide me in my
endeavors. Along with other people, I began using the help of other websites such as Stack
Overflow to help me understand content from lectures. It was through the help of close friends
and TA’s from classes that I learned my definition of life-long learning. As opposed to
regurgitating content (like in high school), I should strive to understand the minutiae of products
and continually learn what makes them tick. This hunger for knowledge is something I am
grateful for having from my time here.

Although my previous year had been challenging, my junior year was the most difficult
by far. Even with all of the resources at my disposal I still feel like I scraped by the first semester.
The courses were fast paced and presented difficult content in large quantities, meaning even
larger time commitment. However, the courses I was taking gave me insight into what work
would be like outside of the collegiate level. Both the final project in CprE 381 and the course
ComS 309 taught me what it would be like working on projects for a company. They included
small teams with continuous development and a need for lots of communication. I also followed
life-long learning aspects by learning how to work with different kinds of people. Often I had to
change how I approached my team when working on projects so the most work could be done.
Sometimes I was a leader and delegated roles, others I was simply a role-player; it all depended
on who I was working with. My internship with WPG Americas was reflective of what I learned
in these courses, forcing my to be proactive and consistently communicate with my team.

Senior year has finally arrived and the realization is daunting. I still feel like there is more
I should have done and unprepared for the future of adult life, yet I still believe I am ready to
graduate. Iowa State has prepared me to be ready in any scenario through teaching me how to
learn new content, work in groups, and of-course use life-long skill learning. There are still some
regrets, but over the course of four years I believe Iowa State has helped me understand who I
am and helped me make college an overwhelmingly positive experience.