My passion is programming, but not simply to write code. I like to work out the problems; I enjoy the challenge of working out how to get from point A to point B in what most people would regard so many irritatingly miniscule steps. I was also the student who enjoyed Geometry most of math classes, and whose favorite part of that class was the proofs. You probably don't relate.
So it turns out my passion is program analysis. I don't want to be either of the other halves--a lowly programmer who only codes what and how he is told, or a systems analyst who works out the how of a problem's solution and then leaves it to his/her underlying programmers to code it. For that reason I'll probably end up working for a company which only has a middling need for application development. That means either the applications they want developed are not mission-critical, or they are a small company. Either way they don't require the manpower to split the positions, and they probably won't want to or won't be able to, respectively, pay much for the position. Besides, most tech jobs are going contract and overseas anyway. So I'll be stuck with whatever I can get and be thankful I'm making more than minimum wage. Bah.
At some point I stopped caring about education in general. I think that was largely due to the fact that the professors in my department thought it would be better to test over inane details rather than teach the tougher material they should have, in order to stretch out the bell curve they believed they should be getting. Artificially increasing the difficulty of given subjects does not sit well with me. Somehow I even became disinterested in math, though for different reasons I can't quite pinpoint. What irritated me the most was the "Job Skills" course I had for skills any business major needed to know. Some of it was general and somewhat useful, like how to compose a resume, go on an interview, and prepare an itemized annual budget. But it was taken to an extreme such that the assinine details were the bulk of the material. We didn't even do a real interview; we just got some handouts and watched two people enact common interview "blunders" and pointed them out. And they talked for a long time. What made me irate about the class was the social aspect of business that we would be expected to know; eating at fine restaurants, goings-on at cocktail parties, how to brown-nose and weasel your way into good graces with excessive thank-you cards, knowledge of "finger bowls"--and the one that really peeved me--knowing what time of year it was "proper" to wear a white suit. The fact that I was singled out to talk to the instructor for wearing a beige (maybe off-white, but certainly not white) sports jacket for a presentation infuriated me. I was accused of not listening to anything she said in class, because I was wearing white at the wrong time of the year. Please. I don't even know what season of the year Labor Day and Easter are, much less if I'm between them. I don't know which comes first, don't remember whether it was between Labor Day and Easter or Easter and Labor Day that white is taboo, and--surprise!--I don't care either. It's just a rule for upiddy people to make so they can have a reason to be offended when they see some "uncivilized" person breaking it, and I'll have none of it.
Congratulations! You've been upgraded to Elite Harmless Moron. What will you do with your new-found powers?
And in other news, I'm an idiot. Back to you, Unordained.
I like to end all my articles with self-effacing banter to show that I don't take myself too seriously and you probably shouldn't either. You know--for kids.
