Learning to look past what the computer wants me to see
20 Jan 2026
Discovering that there’s more than meets the eye
I discovered my interest in software engineering, and all that it entails, by accident; What I wanted to do was play a videogame in a way that was more fun to me and my friends, but not what the “real” experience wanted from the player. My friends and I were appalled at what the game “Maplestory”, and its developer “Nexon” expected of its players: either hundreds of hours spent “farming” in the game or shelling out a large amount of cash. This is when I decided to host a private server for our friends, and where I first ran into C++, which I learned was a language that the server I was hosting was built on.
What started initially as utter frustration as I tried to decipher the code to make changes to the gameplay experience turned into genuine curiosity as I started to wonder why and how minor changes affected the game – or program – as a whole. Of course, while the frustration of trying to learn to code without actually knowing any fundamentals led to the eventual shutdown of my server (after about a week), the interest in coding, and software engineering, only grew from there.
How do I become the man behind the curtain? Developing the tools of the trade
Throughout my life, I’ve had many experiences where I’d be using some sort of application (either for work or at home) and I would just think “what were the developers thinking? Why would you make it run this way?” Those questions form my main desire for pursuing a degree in Computer Science: I want to learn the fundamental principles behind the various aspects of software engineering so that no matter where my future career takes me, I will have the toolset required to apply myself to any project I am a part of.
Even though I am early in the learning process, I can still feel where there are “roadblocks” when presented certain problems. However, I also recognize when something I’ve learned previously applies to new problems and can solve it easily. That’s why my initial goal is to continue development the core competencies required of this discipline.
The pupil desires to one day become the master
Going back to the initial questions I ask when using software, I realize that one day I may be able solve those same issues myself. However, I am deeply aware of the lack of knowledge and experience to be able to do so. As such, I hope to gain more experience in the software engineering field that will give me the insight to solve real problems and transform the end user experience. While the competencies I want to work on will help, by working with others on projects or classwork, I’ll not only get hands-on experience on the “coding” side of the problem, but also insight on the collaboration aspect of software engineering. Personally, I want to become someone who can develop solutions to problems, rather than just follow instructions and write code.
What happens when the credits roll?
At the end of the day, while I can’t specifically say “I want to work for this particular company and develop this particular application” at this time, I do know I want to be a developer/engineer that has the skillset to apply himself to any project. To do that, I know my initial goals must be to apply myself to the classes I’m taking now and looking for opportunities around me to grow those skills. In a weird way, I view the process of learning to be a software engineer as a development project all on its own: just one avenue to “develop” myself and looking for the right way to engineer that desired outcome. While the initial steps are full of uncertainty and anxiety, I’m also excited at the prospect of helping others during this journey.
Note on AI usage:
While writing this technical essay, Grammarly AI was used to help verify and check for all major grammar mistakes. Some minor edits suggested by Grammarly were used if I felt that it added or enhanced what I was trying to convey, while some were ignored because it would sound less like “me”.