Much of the code many people write is code that is most likely already written. Many coding solutions to writing general functions are already figured out and built upon slighly so that they can work with different functionality. College classes teach you about functions and writing basic functions like adding and subtracting. These general solutions can be applied to a lot of different functions and code. However, these same types of solutions can also be applied to designing websites and software. There are many different patterns and formats that work for many of the problems software developers face on a normal basis. Despite the patterns providing solutions to software development problems, these general solutions to the problems cannot be converted immediately into code for the software. They are a template someone can follow and build upon based on the template. These patterns are like a deep rabbit hole or an iceberg that is hiding how big it is under the surface of the water.
There are many different ways to use design patterns. In my final project, my group drew out how the website we were making would work in somewhat of a tree format. This does not help us in making the code but it will help us visualize the things required to make and the general flow of how someone would use the website. However, this is only scratching the surface. We were also able to use a design pattern such as a bridge in order to split a larger database into two smaller separate ones. These patterns have made our lives much easier while coding.
In conclusion, design patterns are like an icredibly deep rabbit hole. On the surface, you can see a little bit of how some of them work but as you go down, the amount of different patterns increase and increase in depth. These patterns are not the end all be all solution to software development. But they will make your life much easier should you choose to implement them into your own project.