Disrupted by the Pandemic, Student Bolsters Learning With MicroBachelors® Program

When the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to shut down worldwide, Arca, a computer engineering university student in Turkey, found it difficult to adjust to online learning. Knowing that he needed to receive a high-quality education in order to pursue his dream of working for a large technology company, Arca enrolled in the Computer Science Fundamentals MicroBachelors® program by NYUx. After successfully completing the program, Arca felt confident enough to apply for internships and immediately received responses to his applications. 

What edX course or program did you take and what were your goals in taking it?

I am a second-year computer engineering student in Turkey. We could not get full efficiency from the lessons because [due to the pandemic] the schools were suddenly online. This had a negative impact on me at first because I wanted to get an excellent education to achieve my dreams. So then I decided to enroll in courses at edX to enroll in professionally prepared courses.While I was looking for a course to improve myself at edX, I saw the Computer Science Fundamentals MicroBachelors program. I was already enrolled in other courses from edX, but when I saw the MicroBachelors program, I was very interested. Most of the schools around the world were already continuing their education online, and we were in quarantine at home, so I had plenty of time. I enrolled in the Computer Science Fundamentals course as I had time to work in my school classes and the MicroBachelors Program at the same time. As I wanted to work at big technology companies in the future, I knew that I had to improve myself a lot. 

How was your experience learning online?

We held lab lessons with Python together in the third course, and our coach helped us a lot. I think doing exercises for business life using Python has improved me a lot. When the classes at the school were suddenly online, we could not get full efficiency from the lessons at the school, but I completed my shortcomings with the MicroBachelors Program. I would like to thank our coach once again for patiently answering all our questions. I was not on campus, but I had a really great education.

How has your learning impacted your career, life, or community?

I had enrolled in courses before edX and after finishing the MicroBachelors Program, I felt I was ready for the internship. My confidence increased and I applied to companies for internships. In a short time, I started getting feedback from the companies I applied to. I did not anticipate such quick responses. I think the biggest reason for these responses is the education I received from edX.

What advice would you give new edX students?

Students from all over the world must enroll in these professionally prepared courses. If we want to be very good in our profession, we must constantly improve ourselves. And these courses really make a huge contribution to our development.

Last updated: May 2022