About Me: Nicole Riley

Hello, everyone! My name is Nicole Riley and I am a CSE post-baccalaureate at UW. That means that I have an undergraduate degree in another subject (neurobiology and psychology) and am pursuing an undergraduate degree in CSE.

Outside of class, I am involved in many things in the CSE community. I am TAing CSE 154 this quarter, but in the past I have TAed CSE 311 (Foundations to Computing) and CSE 142. I also am currently doing research in a lab on campus. Outside of that, I am involved with various other leadership positions in the department, including being a student liason in the CSE student advisory council and the treasurer of ACM-W. I have participated in a few hackathons (and won an award for one). I have also interned in the past and I am going to a new internship this summer. If you want to talk to me about CSE, opportunities in the department, or anything else, feel free to let me know!

Outside of computer science, one of my favorite things to do is to sing with my a cappella group on campus, Unleashed! I also love to read, do yoga, and go to see musicals/theatre with friends.

Here are a few of my favorite things!

Advice for CSE 154

CSE 154 is an amazing class! Because you learn so many languages and are exposed to so many different pieces of techology in a short time frame, you are able to apply them to a variety of other areas (building a portfolio outside of this class, competing in hackathons, internships, research, etc.). The skills you learn will also help you pick up other languages and skills more quickly. I also love how you can use the knowledge you learn here to apply to other interests in personal projects (like biology, psychology, hobbies and more). However, in order to make the most of the class, here are some pieces of advice:

1.
This class is a lot of learning new technologies very quickly. Therefore, your best friend in this course will be the language documentation of whatever language you are using. This allows you to look up functions in various languages. Also, gaining skill at reading documentation is an invaluable skill for internships
2.
Don't be afraid to use the resources at hand! The WPL is a great place to get help with your code and office hours are a great way to get individual questions answered from the professor! I would also say don't be afraid to ask questions in class (I found it very helpful so I wouldn't forget my questions between class and office hours!). In general, if you have a question, there is probably someone else in the room who has a question.
3.
Attend lecture, section, and labs! Not only because I want to see you in class, but the material you use and practice there will help you with your homework.
4.
Stay on top of it! Because we are moving very quickly, make sure that you read the book and listen to lectures on ponopto to stay ahead. Likewise, start the assignments early so you have plenty of time to find bugs!
5.
Practice it and Code Step by Step are great resources for extra practice!
6.
Read TA feedback on assignments! We spend a lot of time grading and if you read our feedback carefully you can use that to improve your code for future assignments and to learn great practices for future coding endeavors (internships and full-time typically have you follow some style guidelines anyway).