Greetings and salutations everyone!
I have returned from my out of state traveling endeavor, and as such I am here to deliver part three in how to survive college!
Today's lesson in particular is: Finding your passion and flourish.
After numerous discussions with potential and future start students, or those that are also with us on a daily basis, one of the highest concerns amongst them is simply, "What will I do once I leave the University?" It's a large question that carries a lot of weight with it, especially those of us who would be emerging into the industry here within the next few months or years at that. It can be a little daunting to look ahead and find that our graduation dates are ever approaching, and the most that we have are little scraps of a resume and a small skillset that a lot of others would possess.
In short, we (including myself) feel like we blend in with the background.
However, this can be remedied, and I didn't even really realize this myself until I took my trip away from the campus.
For those of you who have kept up with my postings, you would know that I am a part of the Computer Science and Network Security majors offered here at the University. Possibly two of the more obscure majors, and for someone to dual major in both? Crazy! But despite this, I have slowly tried adapting to different tool sets and how to possibly tie in both fields into one another, either through scripting, programming or going into software development. I have had the opportunity to attend multiple different events, either as a volunteer or even as a competitor in some cases. But through these events and the things that I have done, I have found that which I'd actually want to do.
I have found my passion.
Doing your school work while you attend college is only a small portion in honing your skills in whichever field that you are in. You can learn how to 3D model in your class, or how to set up a virtual machine, but what you do beyond this is what sets you apart from everyone else. You can take this model and import it into your independent game project that you will be publishing later, or you have eventually built your own server infrastructure that you are accessing from your dorm room, or you have written scripts to expedite all installations or monitoring of your systems. There is so much that you can do with outside work, and your time in college really can help define what you can do, and what you will want to do.
I highly encourage you guys to join clubs where necessary, and go to as many events that pertain to what you enjoy the most. If you can find what you do and have fun with it, or find your passion, then it will surely work out for you in every regards!
Tomorrow I will go more into detail in what I have done to find my passion, so think of this post as a two-part series, but in the mean time, find what it is that you enjoy, or what you like most about the field that you are a part of, and flourish.
Until next time,
-Nicholas "TAE"
