After reflecting on the Fall 2020 semester, I realized I never really devoted any of my time for personal development. Part of that was intentional because I didn’t want to burden myself too much between my club and academic responsibilities, especially as I transitioned to USC from another institution. But going into winter break, I knew I wanted to pick up a hobby. Nothing too demanding, just something cool I could start over break and carry into the spring semester.
Eventually, I decided to dust off my coding skills. Apart from an Intro to Coding class I took, I don’t have extensive experience in code. I was able to create a simple, text-based game based on the what I learned in class, but I never went farther than that. However, I really enjoyed that class and have always wanted to learn more about coding and its many possibilities.
Over break, I devoted some time to watching coding videos and tinkering with my old code to get back into it. Like any language, relearning code after not “speaking” it for a while is difficult. At first, I was tempted to just jump into the deep end and get to the fun stuff I wanted to learn, but I knew I had to start over to an extent. It felt a little gratuitous, but I picked it up fast and I actually learned some new things. Before I knew it, I was back where I left off!
Transitioning into the spring semester, I kept myself busy by refining my old game code to try to improve it. Currently, I’m teaching myself how to incorporate different types of media into my code. The plan is to add visuals and audio to my game, but I also want to explore different types of simple game development. After that, maybe app development? There’s many paths to take with coding, but my only goal with this hobby is to keep learning.
At this point, it’s pretty clear that I enjoy computer science. Although it doesn’t outweigh my passion for my current major, I know I want to keep coding. Tagging on a minor in that field has always been a possibility as well, but for now, I like the path I’m on. There’s something gratifying and motivating about doing something simply for the sake of personal growth and development, and coding as a hobby allows me to pursue that in a way I enjoy.
