More Than Code: Making a Difference Through Software
17 Sep 2025
My favorite things about software engineering
The first thing that I like about software engineering is having the ability to build whatever you want from scratch. I think of software development as an art where the screen is a blank canvas, and I’m the artist with the paintbrush, all I need is to have an idea of what I want to create. In software engineering, you have complete autonomy over what the final product does and how it looks. This means that there isn’t a single way to create something, which means that the power is in your hands on how you decide to build something. I definitely like the creative freedom that software engineering brings.
Another thing that I like about software engineering is that there is always something new to learn. The software industry is a fast moving industry, with new technologies coming out almost every week. I like this because I love learning new things, especially if it’s related to something I’m interested in. These past couple of years have been pretty exciting with the rise of generative AI. Being able to experiment with these different AI tools and see how I can use them to become a more productive developer has been pretty fun.
The thing that I enjoy the most about software engineering is that things that I build can be used by other people. I love this so much because with software development, I’m able to potentially have a positive impact on other people. The feeling of joy I get thinking about being able to help others with something I create is actually insane. I felt this happiness after finishing the website for Farrington High School’s Leo Club. The fact that people are using a website that I helped to build is actually so sick to me.
Skills I want to develop, experiences I want to acquire
Some software skills that I want to develop are database management and UI/UX design. I don’t have much experience working with databases yet, and I think that that’s an important skill to have if I want to build my own apps. I also want to learn more about UI/UX design because all of the web projects I’ve built so far have not had pretty user interfaces, and I want my apps to look better. Some experiences I want to acquire are working in professional software development environments, and working in a large codebase. In other words, I want to work on a big project that’ll be of use to a lot of people.