Becoming Part of the Solution
06 Sep 2019
A Child’s Inspiration
Software engineering is a relatively new term for me, but the dream of it has been with me for decades. Even as I grew up with text-based videogames, Super Solvers learning games in only 4 colors, Gameboy games and onward, I was always fascinated by what could be achieved by a series of characters processed by a computer. One day at a secondhand book shop, instead of grabbing the usual sci-fi paperback I found a book on how to program in BASIC, and a whole new world was opened to me. At first, I painstakingly copied their code word for word. By the time I was 8, I realized I could modify the code as I saw fit, and change the games in any way I felt like. I have had few moments of such wonder since that childhood realization.
Programming: From Childhood to Adulthood
Much has changed and grown in the world of software development in the decades following my youth of gaming in DOS. For a while, it seemed to me that any game worth playing was beyond my ability to code myself, not to mention the graphics required to compete with other modern games. I realize now I simply didnt have the capacity and imagination for the possibilities of what a single person could do. It’s amazing what people can achieve a plan is developed and split into pieces to be completed by other collaborators to make a final complex product. That realization is now becoming a reality, as I have succeeded in the fundamental courses of computer science and am undergoing higher-level training in algorithms and software engineering. Almost anything can be achieved with an idea, some motivation, and the ability to plan the steps required for completion.
From Problems to Solutions
As I have learned, adapted, and matured over the years, I have seen many possibilities for coding outside of leisure purposes. Every day I notice inefficiencies everywhere–in traffic, supermarkets, websites, automobiles–even my dishwasher. I can’t help but notice how things could be done more efficiently with superior effect. I also found it difficult to process feelings that there was nothing I could do about these endless ineffecacious systems, and judge their makers to be somehow lazy or malicious. Much of the stress I endured at my job as remote operator of industrial plants came from noticing inefficient processes that could be modified to improve efficiency, savings, and morale. It was frustrating for my suggestions to repeatedly fall on deaf ears. Over time, I realized there are simply bad, good, and better ways of doing almost anything, and some people simply do not have the skills or experience to make things in a way to significantly improve the experience of its users. Once I realized I had the capability of being someone who could do things the right way, and make even minor improvements that may save thousands of man-hours over time, my new career path was settled. With the right skills, experience, and degree, I could finally fix the problems I couldn’t help but notice day-to-day.
Deciding My Destiny
Ultimately, software engineering feels like something I was meant to do all along. It took time, maturing, and life experience to realize it, but the world is full of glitches, bugs, and inefficient routines that I have the power to nudge in the right direction. Even such seemingly insurmountable problems such as climate change, fearmongering nationalism, and poverty can be helped by the right people with a dream and the skills to achieve it. I have resolved to become one of those people.