CS373 Fall 2021: Justin Foster

Where did you grow up?

I have grown up all over the Southern U.S. I was born in Oklahoma and then moved five times before ending up in Texas for High School.

What high school did you attend?

I attended the Woodlands College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas.

What was your favorite extracurricular activity in high school?

I very much enjoyed playing video games outside of School. I am mostly into first person shooters and got fairly good after I built my own personal computer my senior year of high school.

Why did you come to UT?

I came to UT because of the reputation of the computer science program and also it is the best school for the cost, distance, and experience. So far, I have loved my experience at UT and have had the opportunity to do so many cool things while on campus.

Why are you majoring in CS?

I’m majoring in CS because I love to build and watch as my inventions do as they’re intended. I started with Legos when I was really young and then eventually I started to get interested in computers and thus I found a conjunction of these two interests in programming.

Why are you in this class?

I’m in this calss because I really want to feel prepared going into the professional world and to do this, I’ve heard that this class prepares its students excellently for life after college and I want that kind of preparation.

What are your expectations of this class?

I expect to learn a lot and to work with a team. I expect to be able to work with my teams through tough problems and make intelligent solutions.

How much Javascript/Python/SQL/Web programming do you already know?

I taught classes in Javascript and Python so I’m fairly familiar with these languages but I have not worked with SQL and Web programming since I was in the 8th grade. I feel fairly confident in Python however.

How did you like the first lectures?

I felt very engaged and enjoyed the style of the class. Having a very direct dialog with Professor Downing made the class feel very fresh and the format appealed to me greatly.

How did you feel about the cold calling?

It makes the class feel very personal. I enjoyed it a lot as I was called on for most of our second class. He is a fantastic teacher and helps out his students even when they don’t quite exactly know the answer.

What made you happy this week?

I got to see a lot of my friends that I missed since summer and having everyone back in town has made my first week very fulfilling.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

My tip of the week is to Use Netlify for hosting your own personal website. They have good documentation and support all kinds of websites. I use Hugo Academic to make my website essentially an online resume and it has become quite easy to modify and make posts. It has live build reports and you can access and modify all kinds of personalizing features on Netlify’s website.