Frankly, I'm 27 and I don't know exactly what I want to do with my life. For the last 2-3 years I've been pursuing a career in academia. This winter I used my winter break for soul searching. By that I mean trying to figure out what I'm doing here. I have an incredible amount of talent in a wide variety of areas - I'm not trying to brag, seriously - and that makes it difficult to say "this is my calling" or "that is my calling". My love for computer science started with my love for programming which started with my love for playing video games, which started with Pong (not the Atarii version but the original). I love computers like football players love the feel of dewey grass under their feet. I love computers like runners love looking over the horizon. I love them simply and completely. It is hard to picture my life without them. Computers, however, don't satisfy every creative desire I have, and they never will. There is some part of me that has had an awakening. Some creative, artistic talent in me is clawing its way out. Forcing cravings upon me that I haven't had in a decade - the craving to create with my hands. To hold clay between my fingers whilst fashioning something. To paint. The desire to build something besides software (though I can't see giving up software). For this reason, I've been poking around some more industrial areas looking for a place where I can use all my skills together. My connection with creating solid physical things gives my personality the balance that it needs, so I know that creating is something I want in my everyday life. The next logical question is "what should I be doing?" And lately the answer seems to be fabrication. The thought of building prototypes has really turned my crank lately. Molding and casting I've always sort of known how to do, but I'm currently learning how to do carbon-fiber fabrication. Its not tough, surprising easy actually - well it is probably too soon to say that it is easy but it isn't intimidating at all. Thinking that this isn't intimidating makes me want to learn some metal working also. Things like shaping, welding, and finishing, etc. Next, I want to learn injection-molding so that I can make my own plastic parts from recycled plastic. Finally, I've wanted to learn how to wire electrical parts and digital circuits. Where is this going?? My conclusion right now is into robotics design and fabrication. That way there is plenty to build with my hands, and if I want to write software, there would be plenty of that also. In the meantime, I have a project or two going to hone my skills with carbon fiber. We'll see, perhaps this is some strange phase I'm going through right now.
Passion, Tao, and where I'm going.
