I started my batch at Recurse Center last week – it’s been a flurry of meeting new people and reflecting on how I’d like to spend the next three months here.
So far, it’s mostly been pair programming, coffee chats, and attending interest discussion groups.
- It’s been wonderful to meet so many kind and thoughtful folks. Being around so many people that interact intentionally has already helped me with being honest, assertive, and eloquent in what I’m trying to express. I’ve been more likely to offer feedback in the moment.
- I had the realization that, as introverted as I am, I love meeting people, getting to know them, and becoming friends. Talking to people and getting to know them has been the most interesting thing I’ve done so far at RC.
- I paired on a “creative coding” project where we worked on updating the Google Chrome dino runner game to a running dinosaur that’s trying to chat up and literally run into dinosaur chicken nuggets.
- I also paired on a leetcode problem with another person that will be job-hunting after the batch. Sad but necessary.
- I’ve attended sessions about HCI, music synthesis / audio processing, and creative coding.
What I’d like to do with the rest of my time at RC:
- I have a ton of ideas I’d like to work on as someone whose thinks in breadth-first search. A lot of them are side projects I’ve thought about, a lot of them I’ve encountered over the past 10 years of being in tech. Topics include
- gaining in-depth knowledge of working in Python, Typescript. and C++
- feeling more comfortable in React, node.js, and next.js
- completing art projects that I don’t really feel like sharing about right now lol because I certainly promised people that I’d do them but never did
- learning more about networking, hardware, Maya/Houdini/Blender, working in the shell, system design, game development, HCI, live coding, music synthesis, audio processing, security, a11y
- getting through The Pragmatic Programmer and Don’t Make Me Think over the next 12 weeks to integrate into my code as I go
- My original intention of attending RC was figuring out if I actually like programming. At this point I think I do, as much as I’ve been procrastinating on actually coding. I’ve been thinking more about how I can bring joy into work after RC. Some things I’m considering are: working as a computer science teacher / professor, transitioning into film / VFX production engineering, and deepening my knowledge to work more effectively as a product engineer.
- I made plans for how I’d like to structure my time day-to-day. I was taking a two month break from working (which was healing and delicious) and am transitioning into being productive again. This is the first time i’m actually holding myself accountable for having a sleep schedule that’s not forced upon me. I’m gonna TRY waking up at 8-9am every day and consistently coming into the office. It’s an experiment and likely a challenge for me. I’m aiming for dedicated heads down time in the morning and leaving my afternoons to tinker / pair / chat.
What I’ve found difficult
- It’s becoming clear that I’ve become very jaded about new technologies and advancements, particularly in web programming and ML. I find the way that folks treat the ethics of collecting, building. and working with datasets that are sourced from artists without permission concerning at the current rate AI is being used. I feel like most web applications I interact with are bloated and are created without much thought to UX and personality. I’d like to find more optimism.
- I’d like to tinker on small programs often and work on side projects over time. I haven’t done this much of this at all outside of work or hackathons. I’d like to foster curiosity and gentleness within my self.
It’s been fun to actually have the energy and motivation to work hard and learn. My health and circumstances allow me to be intentional, which I’m grateful for. I can work everyday using the amount of energy I have and not force myself towards the goal of output. I’ve liked creating my own structure instead of having that imposed on me within an academic or corporate work environment.
Everyday I feel hope that the rest of the batch will go well and I’d like to keep that up.
last updated: 2/20/24
polish level (1-10): 3