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What Do You Do When CS Isn't Fun Any More?
wonderless asks: "Long ago and far away, I thought that I was going to be a Great Geek, and that I was going to provoke a revolution in the computer industry--and indeed, the world--with my mastery of technology. I could hardly wait to throw myself into an intense, highly technical curriculum and shine. But as I said, that was long ago and far away. Now I'm one semester away from graduation, with a 3.5 average overall and a lackluster 3.0 in CS, and I'm liking it less and less every day. I used to be able to say that at least it pays well, but now I can't even take solace in that. I drag myself to classes and through projects, and it all seems really pointless--I'm just implementing what's written in the book, and eradicating the countless off-by-one bugs is nothing short of mind-numbing. I'd like nothing better than to recapture the feeling of joy I used to get out of doing this, and to once again be able to say I'm doing what I love. What do you do when it isn't fun any more, but you'd like it to be?"
see how long it takes you to appreciate love and adore the wonderfull joys of CS. I am guessing one day tops!
Hit the networks. See what Oprah recommends. Maybe Maury can help you out. Find someone to scream at(maybe a professor - pick a feisty one) and duke it out on Springer.
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog!" - a dog
Which is remarkably similar to the French Foreign Legion.
Dude, like you gotta go into Management or something. Quick, look in the mirror and see if your hair is starting to get pointy.
Jack
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Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
I have two degrees, one in CS and one in Archaeology. CS isn't what I want my career to be in, but I can take my computer skills and development knowledge and apply it to archaeology problems.
Yeah, and I can take my engineering degree and apply it to 18th-century western European literature.
If you celebrate Xmas, befriend me (538
CS + Archeology!
You can then get a job studying old XT, DRAGON-32 and COMMODORE-64 machines...
Make even shorter URLs - 8LN.org
Soldier: Sir! Sir! I've done it!
Captain: Done what, Corporal?
Soldier: I've finally forgotten why I joined the French Foreign Legion!
Captain: [clicks a couple of keys on his computer] According to our records, you joined because you were bored with Computer Science, and because of a girl named Samantha.
Soldier: Sigh. I'll go patrol the hills again, shall I?
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
I spent three years in the Army and I love my nice indoor programming job. Even if I am having to spend time this week debugging three year old uncommented VBA programs when I don't know VB Script.
Best Slashdot Co
Just get a girlfriend, marry her, knock her up and wait 9 months. CS will look pretty darn good then.
Heh. Before that hit alt.sysadmin.recovery. It should scare you away; wish I'd seen it.
"Remember, any tool can be the right tool." -- Red Green
Very good advice, but I'd like to add that one shouldn't just look for any coop or internship. Find something interesting.
I did a coop for a Department of Defense contracter. Writing code for sonar/radar targetting systems is a lot more satisfying then writing yet another web backend (e.g.: contrast "Congratulations - you've just completeled your first succesful web transaction" with "Congratulations - you've just detected, identified, and tracked your very first Russian Tango.")
All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
Not at all!
The French Foreign Legion is where you go when you want to forget.
The French Fore-gin Legion is where you go when you want to forget, fast.
I am for the complete Trantorization of Earth.
Is that a game about dead potatoes?
They are called girls. Thats what Lisa from The Simpsons is. A girl. They are soft, sometimes nice, and have boobies. Boobies are good. Once you've discovered girls (one may even be your Pascal teacher!), you should persue them. For years you won't even be able to build up the courage to do anything other than puke on them, or maybe drool and stutter uncontrollably, but eventually you may get the courage to ask one out. After another few years of that, assuming you haven't slit your wrists from the pain of rejection, one may even say yes! Even though it'll most likely be out of pity, you too may get a shot at boobi... i mean girls. Yes girls, recompiling your kernel for the 8millionth time may be fun, but nothing beats girls! Or trolling on /. ... but the hour is late, and that is a different tale ...