What I did during my 2nd year of engineering at UVCE?

 In this blog post, I will be describing what I did that helped me in my 2nd year of engineering at UVCE.

During the break between the 2nd year starting and the ending of 1st year 2nd semester examinations, start learning something apart from C++ or the usual basic programming that you had known all this while.

Competitive programming should go side by side. Keep nourishing your implementation skills and keep solving more and more problems on Competitive Programming sites. ( Codechef, Codeforces etc ). It might be frustrating at the start, but then it is a must. Develop problem-solving skills from the start itself.

Apart from that, learn a skill using which you can make projects. I had chosen web development. ( Later more will come, but then just start with something).
So, I started learning the basics of web development. How the stuff works internally. GET, POST requests and all. What happens behind the scenes when you click a button on the browser. And more of such things.

I started with the basics.
The approach that I took was to -

• Learn HTML first. 
• Learn CSS next. 
• Learn JavaScript. Just the basic one, which you find on most of the websites. 
• W3Schools is a famous website among the students. 
• All the above three come together. You have to learn all the above properly. Read a good book or take an online course. So many are available now. Udemy, Coursera and where not. 
• Learn a scripting language - I started with PHP. ( Now I don't do that much of it unless required ). 
• I started with Core PHP, and then went on with the Codeigniter MVC Framework. 
• I used to make small projects, todo list and basic ones will do for the initial start.
  Every large building starts with laying a brick.

If you take online courses for learning, read about the same from a book also! It gives you in-depth knowledge about that particular thing.
But then again, it is subjective. Whatever you are comfortable with, do that! 

I started participating in competitions at college. 

In my initial phases, I did not take tension about winning and all. 

Trust me, participating in competitions helps you improve a lot. That feeling while being in a competition is thrilling. And you need it. So that you get habituated of how a competition is actually like. 

I remember the first competition where I used my Web Development skills was TECHROADIES. 

It was very thrilling to just be in 2nd year, and compete with people from the different branches and also the seniors. 

The best thing about being a junior and competing is, you have a reason that you are just starting! LOL! And if you win, then be on cloud9.

Techroadies Certificate

Keep honing your skills in different aspects of developing something. Just check out what is trending in the tech-market. 

Nowadays, juniors can take up Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence etc for learning something new. These are in trend these days. 

But then Web Development or Android Application Development should be learned for sure. This is because, when you are in a Hackathon or some other common competition, then there they expect you to deliver a complete website or android application for the submission. ( Correct me if I am wrong ).

All the above stuff has to go side by side.
Apart from this don't forget the normal flow of college life -

• Score well and keep your aggregate good. 
• Participate in more and more competitions at college. 
• Be active in college. Organize, Volunteer, Participate in the right proportions. Don't just keep organizing things just because you are afraid to participate in it. Simple rule!
• Don't forget to chill. 
• Watch off all the series and all in the 2nd year itself. ( Because 3rd year is THE END GAME ).

At last, do something out of your league. Register for Hackathons having a cash prize of 1lakh, participate in Coding Competitions even if you are a noob! Don't care about embarrassment.

Do something out of your league.

That's what I remember as of now. If I remember something significant, I will update it here.

Have a nice day!