HON-H200

Honors

Personal Statement

When I look back at the first personal statement I wrote for this class, I realize I was mostly describing what I thought an honors student should be. After going through the course modules, the Q&A session, and the Honors in My Field assignment, I’ve started to understand how the Honors College values actually show up in my everyday life as a Computer Science major at IU Indianapolis. A theme that keeps coming up for me is growth through challenge — the idea that I become a better student, teammate, and future developer every time I push myself a little further than I’m comfortable with.

Critical thinking is probably the value I use the most, even when I don’t notice it. Debugging code is basically a puzzle that tests your patience and your ability to slow down and think clearly. But this semester helped me see critical thinking in a bigger way. During my Honors in My Field interview, I had to prepare thoughtful questions, listen carefully, and connect what I was hearing to my own goals. It wasn’t just about understanding code — it was about understanding people, opportunities, and the direction I want my career to go. That experience made me realize that critical thinking is something I’ll rely on long after I graduate.

Collaboration has also become a huge part of my identity as a student. One specific moment stands out: in my multi‑device development course, my group spent almost an entire afternoon trying to fix a feature that kept breaking our app. None of us could solve it alone. We had to talk through our ideas, explain our reasoning, and trust each other’s skills. Eventually, we figured it out, but what stuck with me was how much teamwork mattered. Later, during the Honors College Q&A session, I noticed that other students talked about collaboration the same way — as something that helps them grow, stay motivated, and feel connected. It made me appreciate that I’m part of a community where teamwork is a shared strength.

Self‑development is another value that has become more important to me. I’ve been pushing myself to explore new tools, languages, and opportunities outside of class. Completing the Multi‑Device Development Certification was a big step for me because it forced me to learn full‑stack concepts and apply them in real projects. It also made me think more seriously about scholarships, internships, and leadership roles I want to pursue. I’m learning that self‑development isn’t just about improving my technical skills — it’s about becoming someone who takes initiative and looks for ways to grow.

Values like equity, inclusion, leadership, and professionalism have also shaped how I see myself as an honors student. Technology affects everyone, and I want to help build systems that are accessible and fair. I try to show leadership by stepping up in group projects, organizing tasks, and helping classmates when they’re stuck. Professionalism shows up in how I manage deadlines, stay organized, and treat my academic work like preparation for real-world projects. And honestly, technology is just a big part of who I am — I enjoy experimenting with new tools and learning new things because it feels exciting and meaningful.

Altogether, revisiting my personal statement helped me see how much I’ve grown this semester. I’m not just listing Honors College values anymore — I’m living them. Through challenges, collaboration, and constant learning, I’m building my identity as both an honors student and a future computer scientist. And I’m excited to keep growing from here.

Honors in my Field Interview

Question 1: Can you tell me about your career path and how you ended up working in web development and informatics?

Honestly, my path wasn’t perfectly straight. I started in informatics because I liked understanding how people interact with technology. During my junior year, I took a web development course that completely changed my direction. I loved the creativity and problem‑solving involved in building interfaces. After graduating, I worked in a support role where I built small internal tools, and that experience helped me transition into a full-time web developer position. Over time, I realized how important accessibility, user experience, and data-driven decision-making are, which is where the informatics side comes in. Now my work blends both: I build interfaces, but I also think about how people use them, how data flows through them, and how to make everything more inclusive.

Question 2: How has AI changed your workflow as a web developer and informatics professional? Do you use AI tools in your daily work?

AI has definitely changed my workflow, especially in the last couple of years. I wouldn’t say it replaced any of my core responsibilities, but it has made certain parts of my job faster and more efficient. For example, I use AI tools to help generate boilerplate code, draft documentation, or quickly explore different design ideas. It’s not about letting AI do the work for me — it’s more like having a very fast assistant that helps me get past repetitive tasks so I can focus on the parts that require real judgment.

AI also helps with debugging. Sometimes I’ll paste an error message or a tricky function into an AI tool just to get a second perspective. It doesn’t always give the perfect answer, but it often points me in the right direction or helps me think about the problem differently. In informatics, AI has become useful for analyzing patterns in user behavior or summarizing large sets of feedback. It helps me understand what users struggle with and how we can improve accessibility or usability.

That said, I’m careful about how I use AI. I don’t rely on it for final decisions, and I always review any code or suggestions it gives me. AI is great for speeding up the process, but it still takes a human to make sure the solution is correct, ethical, and accessible. So yes, I use AI regularly, but I treat it as a tool — not a replacement for real development work.

Question 3: What advice would you give to a student who wants to pursue full‑stack development or informatics? What skills or habits matter most early in your career?

My biggest advice is to stay curious and keep building things. You don’t need to wait for permission to start learning — create your own projects, experiment with new tools, and don’t be afraid to break things. Employers love seeing personal projects because they show initiative and problem‑solving. For full‑stack development, understanding the fundamentals is more important than knowing every framework. Get comfortable with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and at least one backend language. Learn how APIs work, how databases store information, and how to think about user experience.

Communication is also huge. Being able to explain your ideas clearly — whether to teammates or non‑technical stakeholders — will set you apart. And finally, don’t underestimate the value of accessibility and inclusive design. It’s not just a requirement; it’s part of building technology that works for everyone. If you keep learning and stay open to feedback, you’ll grow quickly.

Reflection

Talking with Ms. Law helped me see how the Honors College values show up in real careers, not just in assignments or classroom discussions. Hearing her describe her path into web development and informatics made me reflect on my own growth this semester. She talked about how her journey wasn’t linear and how critical thinking guided her through decisions, challenges, and transitions. That resonated with me because I’ve been learning to apply critical thinking not only when debugging code, but also when planning my future and evaluating opportunities. Her perspective made me realize that the habits I’m building now — curiosity, patience, and thoughtful problem‑solving — are the same habits professionals rely on every day.

What stood out most was her explanation of how AI has changed her workflow. She described AI as a helpful assistant that speeds up repetitive tasks, supports brainstorming, and offers new angles when she’s stuck on a problem. But she also emphasized the importance of human judgment, accessibility, and ethical decision‑making. That connected strongly to my own values of self‑development and inclusion. I’ve been exploring new tools and technologies this semester, and her insight encouraged me to keep learning while staying mindful of how technology affects real people. Overall, the interview reinforced that the Honors values I’ve been reflecting on — collaboration, leadership, professionalism, and equity — aren’t just academic ideals. They’re qualities that shape how I want to grow as a student and future computer scientist.

Engaged Learning & Leadership Goals

Coming into the Honors College, I knew I wanted to do more than just pass my classes. Looking back at my personal statement, my Honors in My Field interview, and the in‑class journey activity, I noticed the same things kept coming up: I like building things, I learn best by doing, and I want my work to actually reach people. My three engaged learning and leadership goals are landing a tech internship, becoming an innovator in the tech field, and taking on a leadership role in a tech student organization. Together, they give me a plan for turning what I learn in class into real experience I can bring to scholarship applications and my future career.

Tech Internship

Land a software or web development internship where I can work on real products with a professional team.

Honors Scholar Identity

An internship would push me to practice professionalism and collaboration every day, which are two of the Honors values I care about most. Working on a real team would show me what it actually means to be dependable when other people are counting on my code.

Goals & Emerging Expertise

My goal is to become a full‑stack developer, and an internship is the most direct way to get there. I would get to use tools like React and Next.js in a real codebase, learn how code reviews and deadlines work, and come out with experience I can point to on my resume and in scholarship applications.

Who I Want to Become

I want to be the kind of Honors student who takes what I learn in class and actually applies it. An internship would help me stop thinking of myself as “just a student” and start seeing myself as a developer.

When

I plan to start applying during my sophomore year, with the goal of interning the summer after sophomore or junior year. Until then, I’ll keep building projects and using career services to improve my resume.

Profile of Learning

This mostly helps me grow as a problem solver. Debugging someone else’s code and figuring out a codebase I didn’t write are skills I can’t fully learn in a classroom. It also helps me as a communicator, since I’ll have to explain my work to teammates and supervisors.

Innovation in Tech

Build and share original projects that solve real problems, and grow a reputation in the tech field as someone who creates new things.

Honors Scholar Identity

Being an innovator connects to the Honors values of critical thinking and self‑development. To me, it means not waiting for an assignment to tell me what to build, but noticing a problem and trying to fix it myself.

Goals & Emerging Expertise

Long term, I want to be known in the tech field for building modern, accessible websites and apps. Publishing projects on GitHub, competing in hackathons, and possibly doing research through the Honors Research Microcredential would help me build a portfolio that stands out for internships, scholarships, and maybe grad school.

Who I Want to Become

I want to become a student who takes initiative and isn’t afraid to fail. Working on my own ideas involves a lot of trial and error, and I think that process will make me more confident and creative.

When

I’ve already started with this ePortfolio and my side projects. I plan to enter my first hackathon during sophomore year and reach out to a faculty member about a research project by junior year.

Profile of Learning

This goal is all about growing as an innovator. Ms. Law told me that AI and new tools are changing how developers work, and I want to be someone who learns those tools early and uses them responsibly to build something new.

Leadership in a Tech Student Organization

Join a computing student organization and work my way up to a leadership role, like project lead or officer.

Honors Scholar Identity

Leadership and collaboration are a big part of what the Honors College stands for. Leading a group would push me out of my comfort zone, since I usually prefer to work quietly on my own code.

Goals & Emerging Expertise

Tech isn’t only about coding. It’s also about working with people. Leading projects or workshops would help me practice communication and teamwork, which employers look for and which the Honors Leadership minor focuses on. Some of these experiences could even count toward that minor.

Who I Want to Become

I want to be an Honors student who gives back, not just someone focused on my own grades. Helping newer students learn web development would let me pass on what I’ve learned, the same way older students have helped me.

When

I plan to join an organization this year, take on a bigger role like project lead during sophomore year, and run for an officer position by junior year.

Profile of Learning

This helps me most as a community contributor. Running workshops or study sessions would let me support other students and help make the tech community at IU Indianapolis more welcoming.

Honors College Open House & Involvement Fair

What interested me

At the Honors College Open House and Involvement Fair, I was surprised by how many ways there are to get involved outside of class. The student organizations and the engaged learning opportunities like research and internships stood out to me the most, especially hearing from other honors students about how they got started.

How it shaped my priorities

Before the fair, I mostly thought about my goals in terms of grades and coding skills. Talking with other students made me realize that leadership and hands‑on experience matter just as much, and that I should start early instead of waiting until junior or senior year. That is a big reason I added a leadership goal and planned to start my internship search sophomore year.

Future Journey Map

My journey map shows how I plan to go from learning the basics as a first‑year student to working as a full‑stack developer after graduation. Each year builds on the one before it, and my three goals are spread out so I’m always working toward something.

Freshman

Build the Foundation

Focus on core CS classes, join a tech student organization, and start building personal projects.
Sophomore Currently

Get Involved

Take a bigger role in my student org, finished my ePortfolio, enter my first hackathon, and start applying for internships.
Junior

Gain Real Experience

Complete a software internship, run for an officer position, and explore research through the Honors Research Microcredential.
Senior

Lead and Launch

Finish my degree, lead a capstone or club project, polish my portfolio, and apply for full‑time developer jobs.
Beyond

Full‑Stack Developer

Work as a full‑stack developer building modern, accessible apps, and keep learning, possibly through grad school.

Building My Expertise

Skills I Will Develop

During undergrad, I want to get really solid at full‑stack development: front‑end frameworks like React and Next.js, back‑end languages, APIs, and databases. Just as important are skills like communicating my ideas, working on a team, and managing deadlines. My classes give me the fundamentals, but internships, projects, and leadership roles are where I’ll learn to actually use them. All of this connects to my professional goal of becoming a full‑stack developer who builds apps people enjoy using.

My Emerging Expertise

I’d like my emerging expertise to be accessible, multi‑device web development. Completing the Multi‑Device Development Certification got me interested in how a site works across phones, tablets, and desktops, and my interview with Ms. Law showed me how much accessibility matters in real jobs. I want to be the developer who makes sure a website works well for everyone, no matter what device they use or what abilities they have.

React
Next.js
JavaScript
Accessibility
Responsive Design
Teamwork

Reflection

Goals & Journey Map

Putting together my goals and journey map made me realize how much I can do during my time at IU Indianapolis if I plan ahead. Before this assignment, my plan was basically “do well in my classes and get a job.” Now I have a clearer picture of what that path actually looks like, from joining a student organization as a freshman to landing an internship and eventually leading projects of my own.

What I like most about these three goals is how they connect. Leadership in a student organization will help me become a better communicator, building my own projects will make me a stronger innovator, and an internship will put both of those skills to the test in a professional setting. Each goal also lines up with the Honors values I wrote about in my personal statement: critical thinking, collaboration, and self‑development.

I know my plan will probably change. I might find a research topic I love or an opportunity I haven’t even heard of yet. But having a map gives me something to come back to, and it helps me stay focused on becoming the kind of developer and Honors scholar I want to be.

Honors

Personal Statement

Honors in my Field Interview

Engaged Learning & Leadership Goals

Tech Internship

Innovation in Tech

Leadership in a Tech Student Organization

Future Journey Map

Build the Foundation

Get Involved

Gain Real Experience

Lead and Launch

Full‑Stack Developer

Building My Expertise

Reflection