burdalane

I have all the credentials. My resume looks great, and I have a degree from a top university, but in reality, I am at best a mediocre programmer. The problem is that I don’t have much passion for programming. I like some aspects of it, but when I encounter a challenging problem, I get annoyed and bored. I don’t find it rewarding even if I solve the problem. I want to be a good programmer so that I can keep my mind sharp, possess strong skills, and develop cool software and make money.

My plan to improve:

Brush up on the basics of the programming languages I use most frequently and of general computer science.
Develop my website idea.
Implement algorithms and data structures as an exercise.
Read about compilers and OS’s.
Brush up on math skills relevant to computer science.
Compete again on TopCoder, and do well this time around.
Actually spend time doing these things.

Hopefully then I’ll seem like a real CS major.

I competed for the first and so far only time last year and did horribly. We competed in three dances at the lowest level and did not get one callback or even one vote for a callback from the judges. I didn’t go to any other competitions in the last year because I couldn’t find a partner, and I was doing more swing, Argentine tango, and salsa, but starting last fall, I got back into hardcore ballroom.

Now I’m going to compete again next Saturday, and this time, I really want to win a medal. Realistically, I won’t win medals, only ribbons if I do well, but you get my meaning. I’ve improved a great deal over the last year, and I’ve been practicing frequently. The only problems: I can’t keep my balance or get my technique right or do all the figures when I dance samba, I’m not sure if I know or can follow all the cha cha and quickstep figures I’ll need, my Latin figure-8’s aren’t quite right in some of the figures, and I haven’t met my partner yet.

So far, the closest I’ve ever come to winning a dance competition was a mixer game at a party, when I almost made it into the finals. If I win a ribbon this time, it will be the first athletic award I’ve ever won. I’ve won plenty of academic awards before, but I’ve almost always finished in last place in athletics.

My mom always told me to pull my shoulders back, but it hurt when I tried too hard. I didn’t know how bad I looked until I saw a video of my high school graduation. I almost cried when I saw how I looked, with my shoulders all hunched forward and my neck thrust forward.

I improved my posture by doing tai chi. Expanding my back, imagining my head suspended by strings from its center, and tucking my pelvis under me really worked. Three years after starting tai chi, I took up ballroom dancing. That has also helped my posture, because you have to keep your head aligned with you body to dance well.