A Radical Way to Graduate
17 Feb 2022A Radical Way to Graduate
It’s Rad
Recently I have reviewed and used the Radgrad resource and I have gained a lot out of it. While it was something I briefly skimmed over at first, it was something I came back to in order to gain valuable information about courses and opportunities in my career path of software engineering. RadGrad is a wonderful tool that I would not have otherwise known about. After completing the tutorial on the website, I have a lot to say as to what I like about it and what I've learned from it.
Values
In addition to its assistant and resource provision for students, RadGrad also has strong pillars in what they stand for and what they believe. They are founded on three concepts: engagement, retention, and diversity. Their goal is explained as:
The fundamental goal of the RadGrad Project is to provide students, faculty, and advisors with an alternative perspective on the undergraduate degree program---which traditionally boils down to a single kind of activity (coursework) and a single metric for success (grade point average).
This not only makes me as a user and student cared about but also supported by a community and team in my endeavors and goals.
Take away
I learned a lot from even the tutorial of RadGrad alone. Using the many features and exploring on my own revealed that there is a lot more to my degree than just passing classes. I can now plan my classes that I want/need to take in more depth and also have more information about opportunities that I want to be a part of. I think that this definitely would help me have a better degree experience where I am able to be in control, be involved, and be committed. I would recommend anyone in STEM to take a look at RadGrad because I’m sure that even if they don’t end up using it a lot, they can still get something out of it
Overall thoughts
As mentioned, I think RadGrad is an amazing source and I will definitely be referring back to it as I progress further into my college career. I definitely want to become part of some of the opportunities and events as well as informing myself further on what I want to specialize in and what course I will benefit the most from. I think RadGrad has motivated me and inspired me to lock in on my path as a computer scientist and software engineer.