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?"

Comments

Re:Go do something else, maybe

[ekrout]

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.

Re:Go do something else, maybe

[epsalon]

CS + Archeology!
You can then get a job studying old XT, DRAGON-32 and COMMODORE-64 machines...

Re:What to do

[An Onerous Coward]

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?

Join the Army!

[wiredog]

You'll get money for grad school. Learn how to fire cool weapons like the M-16 and Stinger! If you become an Airborne Ranger, you will probably get a chance to get shot at! ("There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at, without result." Churchill) Even if you don't see combat, you will get the chance to spend weeks living and working in the mud!

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.

Get a girlfriend

[crazymadness]

Just get a girlfriend, marry her, knock her up and wait 9 months. CS will look pretty darn good then.

Re:Get a girlfriend

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on, we're talking about a CS major here..

Re:What to do

[Bobo the Space Chimp]

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.