Recently, I had the opportunity to use and work with MATLAB for the first time. MATLAB is a programming platform that is used to help aid in complex calculations that would otherwise be difficult to do by hand or some other method. Because this was the first time that I had ever used this software, I was a little concerned on how well I would be able to navigate through the program in order to complete the tasks that my Linear Algebra professor had assigned us.
The tasks that were asked of us were to perform different types of elementary row operations on a specific matrix in order to achieve the outcome desired. First, we needed to define a matrix. I should probably mention that, during class the day before, our professor went over some basics of MATLAB. In this case, I was able to define the matrix rather easily because that was one of the things we went over in class. Then, we were supposed to perform different operations on this matrix in order to manipulate it. This turned into a bit of a challenge for me, especially when it came to the last task where we were supposed to create a for loop that would sift through the matrix, find a row that contained all zeros, and replace that row with the numbers 2020 and 2021. At first glance, I got pretty discouraged because that seemed like a very complicated feat, for me anyway.
After being stumped for a good while, I was enlightened by this insane idea that popped in my head. Technology can help with understanding other technology. Crazy right. Who would have ever thought that this would be true? Sure enough, it is. Knowing this, I will say that Google was my friend in trying to figure out some of the steps that I had no idea on how to complete. However, looking up something on the internet is not always as easy as it seems nor was it for me in this situation. Though, in the end, I was able to figure it out.
Since I have taken a couple of computer science classes here at SDSU, some of this programming stuff was a little familiar to me. Even further yet, while taking these two classes, I developed a small appreciation, if you will, for programming because of the way I feel after being stumped and then figuring out a way around a certain problem that pops up. Anyway, I think that this experience may have aided me when I was looking up how to do things on Google because I understood what needed to happen, I just was not sure on how to do it in MATLAB necessarily. Not only that but I have experience with what it is like to come to a halt in the process and the feeling of what it is like after you get past that obstacle. In this way, I feel like that was another driving factor for me while working on this assignment. However, others with no experience may have found it difficult to look up how to do certain things or even struggle with having the drive to continue after coming to a spot in a problem that seems impossible to figure out. But I’m here to tell you to not hang your head or say you will not find a way because more times than not you will figure out the steps necessary to get through it. Oh, and by the way, a helpful tip that I would also suggest is to not forget to use technology as another resource to help you understand other technology when you need to.
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