Making a Personal Website/Choice About My Career
Thinking about some first steps into web development and what's next for me.
Why make a personal website?
I’ve had the intention of making a personal website for myself (something snazzy and pleasing to the eyes) for several years now. For the last several years I have been completing my master’s degree in computer science, with a thesis in robotics. Research has been rewarding and the satisfaction of publishing work checks a box somewhere in my ego. But research is demanding, and I’m not certain if it’s a passion of mine to begin with.
I’ve seen what path research will take people down and I’m neither excited nor appalled by it. I know I could live a fulfilling life completing a PhD and making a name for myself as a researcher. But, I also know doing that would leave me with questions about what I could have done, or who I would have become if I took a different path. I’m very glad I chose to become a programmer for it’s versatility. And so, I think it’s time I take advantage of that versatility. I want to try (web) design, making video games, making fun applications, making creative websites. I want to make art. I want to create and explore and dive into worlds I’ve never seen before.
I always convinced myself that I painfully struggled with a general satisfaction of most things. It felt somewhat like a curse. This idea I would be satisfied in any career I chose and find joy in my craft no matter what it was. I saw this as a lack of passion or depth. Maybe my passion is for change itself. Maybe, what I’m meant to do is something new over and over again. I like the unknown. I’m most feel the most spirited when I’m cast into the fog. There’s a quote (I think) that goes something like this:
“Not knowing what you will do with your life. How freeing that must feel.” - Someone
I need to wrap this up sooner than later so I don’t stay up all night again. I love early mornings but I rarely get to see them.
Song
I play music almost all the time during the day. I’m always a little proud of myself when I have the most minutes listened on my Spotify wrapped compared to my friends. I also have a habit of keeping songs on repeat for long periods of time which I find people either appreciate or get annoyed with quickly. On that note, I think I’ll put a song at the bottom of these notes of whatever was playing for the duration that I wrote.
Johnnie Frierson - “Heavenly Father, You’ve Been Good” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPS0Wi7fphE)
(I think it would be fun to have a audio button to listen while reading. Maybe I’ll add that for the next one.)