Ask HN: CS Student - Need Help.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5989880

by watermel0n • 13 years ago

26 19 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm a CS Student in Italy, I have a good GPA Score (something like 3.4/3.6); but I feel useless. Everyday I woke up, and I start my usual routine, studying and studying and programming.

Now, from few days apart, I'm feeling really useless to myself and the world in general. I'm studying less and I'm trying to connect with more people around me, but it's a no-go. I see here people that just don't care about the courses. I really LOVE what I do; I see my programming as an art, the art of a problem solver.

Have you ever feel that emotion inside that take you down and down and let you do anything? Well, I'm there, I'm stuck there... in a bubble full of nothing.

philtar• 13 years ago

I felt like that. Didn't get help from anyone. It just went away after I graduated.

I think the main reason you feel like that is because you don't express yourself enough. Your programming is your art. Express yourself.

Make something for the HN community or for reddit or for whoever. Make something people love. You'll fail. And then you'll fail. And then you'll fail but you won't feel like this and you'll be a completely changed person.

pirosb3• 13 years ago

Hi man I am a student in Italy too! We are lucky to have such a cool passion, every day I feel really graced and lucky. One of the best things is that our profession does not have a location and the culture is so vast! Uni has tought me really little! especially italian uni is really retro. Do you want a school? GitHub is your teacher. Learn to understand source code and contribute to it. With regards to connecting people: many think that a programmer has to live in his lab and, to be more focused, isolate himself. That is complete nonesense! I find myself so more creative and driven when I do completely unrelated things. When I come back from a trip I feel that drive of innovating because I have seen so many things! You solve problems if you don't have the problems. I hope this helps, as an italian too I understand you. Do not get dissapointed.

TL;DR Dan :)

markyc• 13 years ago

solve problems, create more than you consume

PS: I think you're using TL;DR wrong ;)

codyb• 13 years ago

I just graduated. It gets better.

"Everything in moderation, especially moderation itself." - Not sure of source.

If all you do is program and study every day you're going to burn yourself out. It's great to be devoted, but make sure you're also doing things you enjoy that are different as well. Talking to people and socializing are a key element of life. Humans are social animals.

I suggest traveling, exercising, and socializing as a key part of every life. Get out there and play some basketball at the university courts, it doesn't matter how bad you are, you'll get better (I should know, I was terrible at the beginning of this summer but after playing a lot with my friends I'm a lot better). Programming is an art, but living is also an art. Make sure to spend some time perfecting that art as well.

artumi-richard• 13 years ago

Break the routine. Pick a city, or a part of a city, you have never been to and spend some time there,even if it's just a day. Find galleries, or something out of your comfort zone. Perhaps go hiking or camping or sailing. It doesn't matter. Get out of your routine and meet new people.

admford• 13 years ago

Personally, I think that universities in Italy just stuff you full of theory and practical, hands on work is extremely limited. I did Aerospace Engineering in Milan, and it was all books and nothing else (I started supplementing my studies with high powered model rocketry just to keep me interested in the courses, it didn't last long).

If you're passionate about a profession, that you know you have talent in it, then use it. A degree is just a piece of paper showing that you've gone through the usual path that says "you know the subject". What most companies look for is what's in your portfolio. What kind of projects do you help out on github? Do you make your own programs, just to make them and see what you can do?

I've heard stories of some game developers that literally did a game a week and posted them on their own site. Sure the games were crappy most of the time, but it showed how that person advanced in their knowledge in game development and design. And if that's not your thing, grab an Arduino and start messing around with it, make some projects (like an internet or android remotely controlled robot, make a weather station and a website for it, anything like that).

Your business card as a programmer is not what courses you finished or how well you did, but how well you know how to apply your knowledge to the real world. These small projects are your calling card.

Even if you're down in a rut, just look around for inspiration, or just pivot and try something else for a while. The road in one's life isn't linear, so you can't expect to continue to find inspiration/motivation doing the same thing over and over again continuously.

cinbun8• 13 years ago

What you are feeling is not restricted to your school / college. I've seen toxic work places do the same thing to some of my friends. If you are passionate about X but are surrounded by people who do not understand your passion, it can make you seem like an island to everyone. That would explain the `bubble` effect you are feeling.

Participate in online communities; Get involved in an open source project; Find people in your area that love to code or share other interests (surely there must be some); Make a cool project and show it to us. The possibilities are endless.

Know that what you are feeling is a passing shower. It will wear off when you connect with like minded people and do / share different things. Ups are downs are normal.

jaimefjorge• 13 years ago

One of the most exhilarating things I have ever experienced was applying my coding skills to making stuff people can use and then (the important part) have people use it. I can't perfectly describe how awesome it feels but this is a good description (I suspect it has something to do with this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_res... ).

So if you love your engineering, do stuff for other people!

If you love open source, join a project.

If you like the scientific side, implement a paper and open source it.

If money drives you, create an mvp for a need of a person you know has.

If you can't find that need do what I did a year ago: micro dev task delegation, i.e. rent yourself by the hour to help devs around the world (I actually published it here on HN) - it paid my vacations and I got to code for awesome people in awesome projects.

If you love good software design and awesome architecture write about your opinion with code samples demonstrating them. Hell, learn a new programming language (Haskell makes your brain tick :)).

I think a good developer that loves his craft is always a few hours away from something amazing. You probably just don't know it yet.

Disclaimer: MSc in Soft. Eng. so I know it sucks to feel the void.

roq• 13 years ago

This is not exclusive for a CS Student, or even for a student. Everyone can go that way.

Tip: change your thoughts, change your syntony. You already know what you like, you just need to start working yourself in something big.

Listen to music you like, read the books you enjoy, talk to people. There are plenty of projects you can get involved. Start using Debian. Go to a new restaurant. Eat something new. Go and walk in a new park. Count the stars. Start contributing at Wikipedia. Meditate, Kriya Yoga. Smile more. Greet everyone. Buy a present for someone you like (a flower to your mother). Write a real letter. Just do.

People too smart and not so intuitive, tend to use the mind more then they should. You, of course, need to use your mind but you also need to use your intuitive felling (some call just "heart").

When you start to go to the right path, you will feel that. No one can say to you, only you can sense.

This is just what I think and what I do.

kooka_k• 13 years ago

When I was at university (Russia) I felt something similar. After graduation it didn't change much, except I started to earn money.

The only way I aware about to change the situation is just find something interesting and dedicate yourself to it. Just forget about people around for a while, concentrate only on a few (close family members), after some time people come to you because you become more knowledgeable and have deeper view of the world then ordinary people.

cliveowen• 13 years ago

I hear you. I too am an Italian CompSci student and I too feel useless. I'm in an even worse situation than yours, since I recently found out that I'm not really suited for the academic environment. I did all the interesting courses and now I'm stuck with difficult, boring courses that I can't overcome because I lack interest and this means I won't finish the 3-year coursework in the expected time. Also, I now realize that I will probably never have a career in software development because Uni doesn't teach anything useful in that setting (and it isn't supposed to) and I don't have the patience and dedication needed to start anything on my own. I'm confident that when I'll finally finish I'll find something to do with my life. With a degree, any degree really, it'll be a bit easier to find a job, whichever that might be, so don't give up hope and plough through.

gyardley• 13 years ago

The best way for you to be useful to the world is to be a good child to your parents, spouse to your partner, parent to your child, and friend to your friends. You don't have to embark on some quixotic 'save the world' quest to be useful - just taking care of the basics is huge. Many many many people mess this up, including many of the ones who think they're off saving the world.

Right now you're trying to learn skills that will make you economically secure - which will make it far easier for you to be a good child to your parents, spouse to your partner, parent to your child, and friend to your friends. In other words, you're doing exactly the right thing. Carry on with it.

hansbogert• 13 years ago

Very familiar. As other suggested create some real software, use tools, apply what you've learned and go beyond.

About the "..I see here people that just don't care about the courses. ..", try to get people involved, that is the biggest hurdle throughout life I think whether it's the uni or in your later career -- get people involved in a project to see it your way and why your way is better, more importantly if you're wrong, admit it.

siscia• 13 years ago

Break the routine is the only way to get out of such condition. I am Italian too and I know what you mean with "I'm stuck here..." well, you are not. CS give you a lot of liberties, you don't need to be in a specific place to work nor you need an office, you just need your laptop. My summer plan was to pack my stuff and move in either German or Spain, find a local support thanks to the online community, find a little room for myself, and live there for 3/4 months working as freelancer and learning a new languagge. A pretty average rate for a freelancer is around 25€/hr you can actually make a pretty good life out of that, and when your lesson re-start you can just come back... How that sound ? I know that your family may be a problem, but that is a problem that YOU have to fix, nobody can do it for you. For anything you should be able to see my email. cheers Simone

chrisgoman• 13 years ago

Tactical (you can do this in the next 5 minutes): Find a good IRC channel that is active and you can connect with people with similar interests with you. We've seen people as far as Nigeria at #digitalocean

beigeotter• 13 years ago

Definitely-- I'm a admin on the DigitalOcean IRC channel and we often have large discussions on development and server configuration on our channel. Please feel free to stop by and join in-- you may be able to find a lot of peers that think the way you do :)

thesmileyone• 13 years ago

You need exercise. It is as simple as that. Get into something, cycling or gym or anything you can do outdoors that will hit your endorphin peaks and you will feel energised!

jyz• 13 years ago

make sure to find a company that values engineering when you graduate. People like you won't be happy when stuck under 200 levels of management.

late2part• 13 years ago

Quit school after finding a mentor to go work for cheap. Learn how to do real productive work. Anything that school can teach you, you can teach yourself or learn online. What you really need is real world experience. Get started.

Ask HN: CS Student - Need Help.

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