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1. You will never learn by just watching. It’s easy to start watching lectures, youtube videos and think you’re actually learning something. Truth is, you’re just tricking yourself. The only way to truly learn CS is by actually doing it. Code, deploy, publish, break things, fix it. If you want real understanding, just do it. 2. Start thinking about internships in my first year. It’s tempting to delay looking for a job untill your final years but the job market is tougher than ever. Start as soon as you can, resume, linkedin, network, projects. You won’t regret putting yourself in the best possible position. 3. Don’t reject new trends, embrace them. CS moves egregiously fast, new technology here and there, new way to build, new AI model. You won’t lose to AI but you will definitely lose to those who master the newest AI. 4. Don’t focus on languages, focus on solving problems. People get hyperfixated on learning programming languages that they forget what software is about, solving problems. CS isn’t just about learning code but how you can solve real world problems using code. 5. Build before networking. Everyone says to network but it’s extremely difficult if you have nothing to offer. If you want to attract and be around great people, you yourself must do great things. Learn everything, build incredible things, post about it, whatever it takes. The network you ask for will follow.