Alexander Somers

CprE 494

9 March 2024

A Reflec've Journey: Naviga'ng My Cumula've Experience at Iowa State University

While going through Iowa State University’s Computer engineering program, I have had

many opportuniDes to develop various skills essenDal to engineering as well as life in general.

General educaDon classes like Religion in America (RELIG 210) and World Food Issues (AGRON

342) exposed me to different societal issues, cultures, and how I play a role in it all, while the

computer engineering core curriculum taught me how to problem solve, design, and implement

engineering systems, and take ownership of my own learning and success. AddiDonally, geTng

involved in some of the student organizaDons on campus like the ChrisDan ministry I am in, the

Navigators, or the cardinal swing club have offered me a mulDtude of opportuniDes to learn

how to be a leader and role model to the rest of my peers.

As menDoned above, the variety of classes I have taken while at Iowa State had

provided a well-balanced educaDon in not only engineering topics, but also the complicated

topics of religion, societal and economic differences and how they impact the world, and how

to communicate effecDvely with others. These non-technical topics come mostly from the

general educaDon classes I have taken such as RELIG 210, AGRON 342, Public Speaking (SP CM

212, and Western CivilizaDon (HIST 201). RELIG 210 and HIST 201 both helped educate me on

different cultures and worldview. As I had grown up in a small town in Iowa, I was not very

exposed to cultural environments outside the typical rural farming community.

 I loved learning about ancient Mesopotamian cultures in HIST 201, and I especially loved

learning about the various religions that have existed throughout the United States History

from RELIG 210. With my background and acDve involvement in ChrisDan communiDes, these

classes gave me ample opportuniDes to think through hard quesDons about the origins of

humanity and cultural values, which helped strengthen not only my criDcal thinking skills, but

also my personal beliefs. As for AGRON 342, that class taught me much about global economic

seTngs and how that affects the daily lives of people groups outside of the U.S. AddiDonally,

the class also had students think and talk about potenDal soluDons for food issues both in our

local communiDes and across the globe. Finally, my other general educaDon classes like SP CM

212 and classes like my Ballroom Dancing class taught me the basics of communicaDng with

others, both verbally in front of crowds and nonverbally with an individual partner.

Then comes my engineering classes from the core curriculum and elecDves. These

classes were obviously much more difficult than my general educaDon classes, but the effort

was well worth it. In fact, two of my favorite classes were Computer OrganizaDon and Assembly

Level Programming (CPRE 381) and Embedded Systems I: IntroducDon (CPRE 288) because of

the challenges they presented. Both of these classes had extremely Dme consuming and

complex labs that culminated in final projects. In CPRE 381, my lab partner and I had to design

from scratch three different types of processors using tools like VHDL, QuestaSim, MARS

assembly, etc. and perform a comparaDve performance analysis of all three. The process of

developing these processors involved many design decisions to try and opDmize our processors’

performance and required us to come up with innovaDve methods to implement a processor in

VHDL code, oden Dmes requiring us to take our learning into our own hands and research
common methods of implementaDon and more informaDon about the limitaDons and

capabiliDes of VHDL.

Likewise, CPRE 288 ended in a final project that where we developed a custom C library

making use of UART funcDons that enabled a Roomba to navigate through an obstacle course

using ping and IR sensors. During this project, we had done in depth research into how the

microcontroller aeached to our Roomba funcDoned and how to use it to interact with the

sensors on the Roomba. The result was a successful project, a thorough understanding of how

to read and make use of engineering datasheets and C code libraries, and an enriching

experience.

Another experience that I consider have been extremely educaDonal and enriching for

my life was my Dme spent in various clubs and student organizaDons on campus, the two main

ones being the Navigators (Navs) and the Cardinal Swing Society (CSS). Although neither of

these groups directly contributed to development as an engineer, they did teach me how to

lead and encourage my peers. The Navs is a ChrisDan ministry on campus that I joined

essenDally the first day I moved into college, because all three of my older siblings were in the

Navs here at Iowa State when they were students, so I had a lot of connecDons already. In my

second year at Iowa State, the summer ader my freshman year I went down to Jacksonville,

Florida with the Navs for a summer long leadership and mentorship training program where I

learned how to encourage and build up my peers, challenging them to think about the purpose

and moDves behind what they’re doing and teaching them how to do the same with others. In

my Sophomore year I joined the student leadership team for the Navs and started meeDng with

an adult mentor, leading Bible Studies, and aeending weekly mentorship workshops lead by
Navigators staff members, all of which equipped me with strong leadership abiliDes essenDal to

professional success.

And then there is the CSS club. Although this was less direct, I also learned a lot about

how to lead others effecDvely during my Dme aeending dances and lessons. Because swing

dancing is my favorite hobby, I would oden independently research how videos on technique

and styles of swing dancing. I even would organize small dances with groups of my friends

because I wanted more changes to pracDce my dancing and apply the things, I was teaching

myself. Throughout this process I became fairly good quite fast, and people soon began to ask

me to dance with them or how to do certain moves. This provided ample opportuniDes for me

to learn how to teach others and encourage them in their efforts, key aspects of a good leader.

I oden had to completely adjust my teaching approach because dancing is a very complicated

subject to teach and people have many different learning styles, so there really was not one-

size-fits-all. This helped me grow in my ability to understand others and communicate to

individuals of all types of backgrounds, which I am extremely grateful for.

Overall, my Dme spent at Iowa State University was well used, and I cannot express how

thankful I am for everything that went into making it so amazing. The faciliDes, the people, and

the quality of educaDon at Iowa State are unparalleled and equip students with all the essenDal

knowledge and tools they need to be successful in the field of engineering once they graduate.

Whether it is technical or sod skills, Iowa State teaches them all, and inspires students to

conDnue their own development independently the rest of their lives.