My First Exposure
So you might be wondering… how can an engineering student suddenly out of the blue decided to create his own blog, under his own website?
Well, it all started when I was in middle school, or specifically when I was 14. I used to explore my dad’s laptop as a way to feed my craving curiosity. One day, I stumbled across the term coined as ‘programmer’, which used to describe people who create apps, websites, managing cybersecurity and such. This one web developer on Youtube, taught me about the fundamentals of web development. He explained about the process of making a full functioning website, with the help of the lovely WordPress (in-fact, the website you are currently viewing is also powered by it). Although the subject matter were quite advanced for my age, I kept following through slowly by experimenting with programming languages such as HTML, PHP, CSS and JavaScript. After quite a while, I developed a fond interest in programming. Although I decided not to make it as my main focus and chose engineering instead in my high school, the passion was still there.
Getting Serious
Skipping to my pre-university foundation years, once again I met with programming, which invoked my interest back. But this time, I was introduced to C++ and R, which are very analytical. Compared to HTML, PHP, CSS and JavaScript which are known as scripting languages and mainly used for web development, the two set of languages have some similarities, yet they differ in syntax, structures, and uses.
After careful thought, I realized that engineering is not mutually exclusive to programming. Most of the time, they go hand-in-hand and help complete each other. Engineers use computer software all the time; knowing how to program and execute these software are crucial to become a successful engineer. Programmers also need to understand the basics of computer engineering; the way computer handle cached data, data processing in the CPU and such. So, I decided to continue my passion, bought a course about web programming and started from there. The project was postponed due to the cursed effect of procrastination (lets be real, we all have been there) until my 4th semester bachelor’s degree break, when I slumped from unemployment.
Going Further
Today, I am grateful than ever. Doing something you loved so much for a living is a dream come true. Even though this side hustle is still in its beginning phase; I have high hopes that it will turn out to be fruitful in the future. As a Malay proverb once says “yang bulat tidak datang bergolek, yang pipih tidak datang melayang” with English equivalent, “you reap what you sow”.