Tinwhistler's college journey as an old man

Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Capstone progress:
I came up with an idea for my software project, and my instructor approved of it.
From my proposal document:

Project purpose/goals: A local used bookstore has grown in recent years and needs a way to keep track of their inventory. Currently, they keep track of their books and pricing with paper notes and institutional knowledge among the employees. The recent departure of one of their most senior employees caused the loss of much of that knowledge, and exposed the need for hard records to keep track of their inventory and pricing. After consultation, a small stand alone application was determined to be the best fit for their needs.
Click to expand...
So, today, I submitted my idea to the assessment team, along with the approval document. Task 1 complete and evaluated as passing. Task 2 is to actually do all of the work.

Task 2 objectives completed:
Design document, complete.
UML data diagram, complete.
Class diagram, complete.
Design diagram, complete.

Still to do:
Actually code the project
Write a test plan
Execute test plan (with screen shots)
turn in the executable, source, and all of the artifacts (test plan, diagrams, etc)
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

We did this for my wife's bookselling business when she was still doing that.
The SKUs for each book included the book's original purchase price (i.e., what she paid for it) and even the location of the book in question so we could find it more easily.

--Patrick
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

that's basically what I'm making in a simplified format.
Gotta show inheritance and polymorphism, so I'm gonna make a "used book" object that inherits from book, but uses a different "sale price" calculation to show polymorphism
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Capstone update:
All of the CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality is done for my capstone. All that's left is to write a report. So I researched a simple HTML report creator that will do all of the printing, exporting, saving, etc for me. But before I dig into that and learn a new tool, I decided to turn my attention to another requirement:
Writing a test plan and unit tests. Such fun!
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Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

7 months to the day. 121 college credit units. I am DONE!
According to my program mentor, the grad process is pretty easy. They'll send me a link to fill out stuff for my application for a diploma, and it should get here in 2-3 weeks (or maybe longer. Covid is causing delays). I'm not 'officially' a bachelor of science yet, but that's a formality that should be crossed here in the next couple of days.
Not much makes me cry. But I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. This has been a goal of mine for 30 years.


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Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Honestly, I feel so silly about this. I turned 51 years old this year. All of my friends from high school did this right out of high school. I'm already earning in the top tax bracket, and the degree will probably not do much for me.

But I've been carrying the shame and guilt of not getting it for 30 years. It feels so good to finally check off the box on my life's accomplishments list.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Paper diploma arrived today. Lotta goodies coming on Christmas Eve. I musta been a good boy :)
Digital diploma (with encrypted security features and stuff) arrived a few days ago.

So, of course I hadda go to Jostens to get a nice diploma and tassel frame. Outrageously priced, but cheaper than the prices at Michaels for the same kinda thing.

What really bit the wallet was getting suckered into getting one of these things, because I thought they were cool.

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Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

If you are self-motivated, you should do fine. On some classes, the course material left a bit to be desired, but reddit.com/r/wgu was always helpful--so much so that I'd search the course number there and read what people had to say before diving into any of the official material. A lot of people hate the proctored tests, but they didn't bug me as much as I'd feared they would.

That said, software development is very different from nursing, so I don't know how the degrees compare in thoroughness. But if I was in the position to hire a junior developer, I'd have no issues hiring a WGU grad.
 
Dirona

Dirona

My biblical Hebrew classes went for four semesters over 2 years.
From 24 people, to 12, to 6, to 2 in the final semester.
 
Simfers

Simfers

My bachelor's in translation started at 120 people (110 women, 10 men) and finished, 3 years later, at 60 (50 women and the same 10 men).
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

this thread reminds me that I'm allowed to attend an in-person graduation ceremony since they were all canceled when I graduated. I should look into it.
 
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