Ferdousara Parvin

About Ferdousara

Ferdousara graduated from Concordia in May 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering. In her third year, she got involved in extra-curricular activities and joined HackConcordia to help organize Concordia’s hackathon, ConUHacks V! Outside of school, she enjoyed painting, practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, hiking, as well as gathering with friends and family around good food.

Her one piece of advice for peers...

Get out of your comfort zone. Challenging your limits can be very rewarding and is one of the best ways to grow. If you are still hesitating on whether or not you should apply for a TA position, if you should join a student-run organization, if you should participate in competitions or if you should apply for an internship, I say go for it.

Three keys to her academic success

• Plan your study. Time management is crucial especially when taking multiple courses at the same time. Do all your midterms fall in the same week? I know this situation is not ideal but by making a study plan which involves studying a bit for each course every day during the weeks prior to the midterm week definitely is a game changer.
• Find balance. Studying all day is not productive. Don’t forget to take breaks throughout the day to do things you enjoy. It can be as small as taking a coffee break with a friend.
• Stay curious. Always ask questions, dig deeper and take the time to learn. Memorizing the course material for the sake of getting a high grade on a test only takes you so far.

Two study tips

• Create summaries. There is so much information that is accumulated from the teacher’s slides, the manual, the class notes, etc. It can feel overwhelming. Try  consolidating all that information into a single document which can then be used to study for quizzes and exams.
• Join a study group. Studying alone can sometimes feel unmotivating and can lead to procrastination. Being around peers who are working on the same assignment as you or studying for the same test as you can help you understand the course material even better.

Ferdousara's next big goal

Throughout my academic studies, I realized that I had an interest in design. My goal now is to slowly transition to a user interface and user experience design role by taking on software projects at my current full-time position where I am able to let my creativity flow and design intuitive and visually pleasant applications.