Extracurricular activities are those that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education, performed by students. Extracurricular activities exist for all students.

Extracurricular activities that employers like to see:

• Student organization involvement
• Participating in Hackathons
• Contributing to open source projects
• Conducting undergraduate research

Student Organizations

Student organizations are a vital and important aspect of student life and growth as a computer scientist. By joining a student organization, you will build social and professional networks and deepen your leadership, technical, and communication skills.

Students organizations provide an opportunity to engage in fun activities and provide service to the department; your involvement and contributions to an organization should be highlighted on your resume.

The list of CS student organizations at UTEP is provided below:

ACM Student Chapter

The purpose of the ACM Student Chapter is to promote and educate the local public as well as UTEP students the benefits of using Open Source web-based frameworks to further efficiency and productivity in education.

ACM-W Student Chapter

ACM-W supports, celebrates, and advocates full engagement of women in all aspects of the computing field, more specifically in Computer Science. Weekly meetings and/or activities are held to promote interaction, support, bonding and engagement of all members.

Miners Cyber Security Club

Encourage cyber security awareness & application by providing students with the tools and education they need to advance their careers. Organize events and different activities to enlarge the UTEP community.

Hackathons

What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is a weekend-long event where programmers get together to come up with creative solutions for a problem. People split into teams and turn ideas into apps. Every app is presented, and judges will give out prizes to the best projects.

Why should you attend one?

1. Network
   You are going to meet so many people at a hackathon. There are people from all around the world. You also have the chance to meet business people, developers, designers, and companies. Many companies also recruit at hackathons, so it is a great way to talk to recruiters.
2. Learn
   There are two main skills you will learn at a hackathon: hard and soft skills. You will learn hard skills by working with new technologies or just improving your expertise with known technologies. You will learn soft skills by working in teams and communicating with other people. You will also learn about managing a project, generating new ideas, using APIs, frameworks, and libraries, and much more!
3. Have fun
   Hackathons are fun and cheap! The snacks, drinks, and food are all free during the event. Most hackathons expect some participants to spend the night there, so there are workshops and events available during the full length of the event. You can take a nap in one of the nap rooms, or play video games to relax for a little bit. You will have a great time!

Read more about Hackathons here:

• Hackathons are for beginners
• The Hackathon Handbook
• Hackathons 101

Upcoming Hackathons:

• Major League Hacking – Events

Open Source Software (OSS)

What is open source software?

OSS is software whose source code is publicly available for anyone to inspect, modify, or enhance. The authors of the software make sure the code is available for anyone to use it for any purpose wanted.

Why should you get started with OSS?

1. Improve skills
   It doesn’t matter if it’s writing, managing, programming, or designing. If you contribute to an open source project, you will practice something!
2. Find mentors or teach others
   If you work on an open source project then you will be in contact with other people. You will have to ask others for help, as well as explaining and teaching others how you do things. It is a great way to involve everyone.
3. Learn soft skills
   You will learn many skills related to working with others. You will learn about management, leadership, communication, and teamwork.
4. Network
   You will meet people that share the same passions as you do! This is a great way to make connections that may help you in the future.

Read more about open source software here:

• How to get started with Open Source
• How to Contribute to Open Source
• First Timers Only – Get involved in Open Source and commit code to your first project!
• How to get started into open source in 5 steps
• A first-timer’s guide to getting started with open source code and communities

Apply to the Google Summer of Code:

• Google Summer of Code
• Spend your summer break writing code and learning about open source development while earning a stipend! Accepted students work with a mentor and become a part of the open source community. Many become lifetime open source developers!

Undergraduate Research

What is undergraduate research?

Undergraduate research is a collaboration between a student and a faculty member, where there is an exploration of a specific topic within a field and the student makes an original contribution to this discipline.

Why should you get started with undergraduate research?

It is a valuable learning experience, it helps for getting into graduate school, it helps for getting letters of recommendation and references for jobs, you get to know faculty and graduate students, you can be more involved in the department, and it is fun!  Faculty members are committed to furthering knowledge in their areas and to including undergraduates as part of their research team.

Read more about undergraduate research here:

• Research at UTEP – Computer Science
• Undergraduate Research: How to Get Started
• The Benefits of Undergraduate Research: The Student’s Perspective
• Why Research By Undergraduates Is Important For Science And Students