My Educational and Career Goals

Part One: Educational Goals

My main educational goal is to graduate by May 2026 with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, maintaining a GPA of at least 3.7. I want to become skilled in both theory and hands-on work, especially in areas like algorithms, systems, software engineering, and web development. Along the way, I plan to complete two internships that will help me gain real-world experience, ideally in cloud infrastructure or back-end development.

One milestone I am working toward is scoring 90 percentage or higher on the ETS Major Field Test in Computer Science. After reviewing the exam topics, I know I need to improve in networking, operating systems, and automata theory, but I look forward to using this as a challenge to push myself.

This goal matters to me because I want to finish the program feeling confident in my abilities and proud of the work I’ve done. Writing everything down has helped me see the steps more clearly, and it’s already made a difference in how motivated I feel.

Part Two: Career Goals

In the next two to three years, I want to land a full-time position as a software engineer, focusing on either back-end development or full-stack work. My goal is to contribute to large systems or tools that people actually use, while working with technologies like cloud computing, containerization, and APIs.

Eventually, I would like to move into a senior role where I can lead projects and help mentor junior developers. But for now, I am focused on gaining experience, building my portfolio, and learning as much as I can.

One thing that stood out from the “7 Career Goals” article was the importance of tracking accomplishments. I have started keeping a document where I write down the projects I work on, skills I learn, and milestones I hit. This will make it easier to prepare for interviews and reflect on my growth. I also plan to update my LinkedIn and build a personal website to showcase my work.

Part Three: ETS Computer Science Test Percentile Guess

After reading the test description and looking through the sample questions, I feel pretty good about my current skills. I am comfortable with most programming topics and discrete math, but I know I need more practice with formal languages, systems, and database modeling.

If I stay consistent and continue reviewing these areas over the next 18 months, I believe I can score 85 to 90 percentile. I will use practice exams to check my progress and keep refining my study plan. The ETS test feels like a good way to measure how prepared I am as I finish the program, and it gives me clear areas to focus on.

Part Four: Learning Journal – Weekly Reflection

This week’s materials helped me realize how important it is to set goals that are not just ambitious but also well-structured. Before, I had general goals like “do well in school” or “get an internship,” but now I understand the value of breaking those down into more specific steps using the SMART framework.

I found it useful to think about both short-term and long-term goals and how they connect to the bigger picture. The strategy of adjusting goals as I grow really stood out. I may not have everything figured out now, but I can keep improving as long as I stay flexible and keep checking in with myself.

From the career-focused readings, I learned that things like networking, self-assessment, and tracking accomplishments are just as important as technical skills. I have already started a progress log and plan to keep it updated every few weeks.

Overall, this week helped me feel more focused and more prepared to take the next steps in both school and my future career. The process of writing down and reviewing my goals made everything feel more real and achievable.