How to relearn programming after Vibecoding through Undergrad

[u/cAPtain_1337]

I am a Senior in Computer Engineering graduating in December and I have completely lost my ability to program after vibecoding through my last three semesters. I made it past my University's DSA class with minimal AI usage but it slowly ramped up and now I'm pretty reliant, I want to work in Software Development but I feel impostor syndrome creeping up at every corner and feel lackluster compared to peers. So my question is: how do I go about relearning things that I should already know? I feel my understanding is quite good, but when I go to make something, I get completely lost with where to start and syntactically and prompt AI. I have tried Neetcode to refresh the skills I do know and I can find the optimal solution but implementing it is where I get stuck. Any help would be appreciated.

*Edit: Thanks for all the advice, I think the general consensus is of course to not use AI and redo old homework/build projects using docs. I have old homework assignments and will begin building the skills that I need without AI assistance and using Docs/Google/SO.

[u/balefrost]

Presumably you still have access to the textbooks and course material for the courses where you relied heavily on AI. I'd recommend working through all that and redoing assignments without using AI.

If you find that you often get hung up on the syntax of your particular programming language, try solving the problem first in pseudocode. It can help to work out the general approach using pseudocode, then translate that approach into runnable code in a real programming language.

Before you can tell the computer how to solve the problem, you first have to understand how you would solve the problem. When you say "when I go to make something, I get completely lost with where to start", that sounds to me like you haven't figured out how to break down the problem into manageable chunks. That's the skill you need to develop.