Life of a CS Graduate: I fell out of love with programming.

Life Update: I'm back with a different new series. To be honest, I've just done a rebranding, the content will more or less stay the same. I have just renamed the series to "Life of a CS Graduate" because I have officially obtained my computer science degree!

I no longer have the energy and enthusiasm for coding I used to. I started programming in high school and will graduate with a degree in Computer Science this coming March, and I plan to create a career as a developer. Consequently, programming has played and will continue to play a significant role in my life. One can imagine why this sudden disinterest in programming is alarming.

On the upside, 2022 has probably been my most successful yet. It has shown me favourable treatment. It was the first year that Covid restrictions were removed to the point that I could live an ordinary life again. It was filled with many firsts. With the most notable of them being:

• First time going to the beach in the three years that I have been studying near the coast.

• First time playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

• First job, albeit part-time.

• The first time I didn't have to rely on my parents financially.

That last one is up there with one of my favourite personal achievements.

One goal I had set for myself in 2022 was to be a "better" friend and have more of a social life. Even though these goals are hard to quantify, I don't need to measure them to know I achieved them. When I last visited Rhodes University, I was deeply moved by the memories, experiences and dearest friends I left behind. It becomes obvious why my enthusiasm for programming has dimmed. I would much rather chunder half a watermelon and build cars of sand on the beach with my favourite people than be working on my next side project. Unfortunately, I can't get paid to do that, so I believe the answer is a balance between working hard and having fun.

I consider 2022 my best year yet. Maybe that is because 2021 was awful yet productive in comparison, or maybe I think 2021 was my worst year because 2022 was utterly sensational. However, the only reason I could have so much fun in 2022 was that I had already put in so much work in 2021, so now, I'm a bit confused about what sort of life I should lead. Even though 2021 was not glamorous, I levelled up in life because I put my head down and focused. I cannot help but associate the gloom of 2021 with the euphoria of 2022.

My 2022 makes it difficult to look forward to the future. The cynic in me cannot reach any conclusion other than the future can't possibly match the heights of 2022. I have chosen to further my studies and do an honours degree at the University of Cape Town. The idea of me studying in Cape Town would have the old me dancing on tabletops of a local pub. Now, all it means is that I will have to leave Rhodes. That was always inevitable but didn't make it any easier. I had the option to stay, but UCT is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities you can't pass up.

The year ahead is exciting and shows a lot of promise. Masters courses are eligible to be taken at an undergraduate level with constraints. I literally made a spreadsheet to decide which classes I want to take! There are too many societies and sports that I want to join. Realistically speaking, I'll only be able to partake in one or two, seeing as the content covered at an honours level is equivalent to the entire three years of undergraduate content. Even though I'm sad to have left Rhodes, I have a lot to look forward to.

At the start of last year, I created this DevJournal series to document my thought processes and the behind decisions of my future. Back then, I had no idea what next year would look like, and now I have a clear vision of how my life could shape up well into 2024. The certainty of my future brings an invaluable sense of peace that I wish everyone could experience. I hope to post more regularly here. Comparing the different provinces I've lived in, comparing the universities I've studied at and reviewing some apple products are some blog ideas that I plan on releasing. If that sounds interesting, then stay tuned.

If you got this far, thanks for the read, and as always, happy coding! 💻