Around the end of my freshman year here at college, I asked my roommate if he wanted to make a website with me. I was interested in doing a personal reflection, where we'd each share our thoughts about how we changed. I planned to let him make the website. He came up with the theme "Routine": how are day-to-day things have changed over time. He thought of an interesting title, "Life Lessons from 102C" (that was the dorm we stayed in). Unfortunately, as of now, we never got to making the website. Guess he forgot. If he remembers and wants to work on it, hopefully he'll send me a message about it in the future.
Nonetheless, I did end up writing my entry about what I wanted to put on the website, and I wanted to share it here on my blog, before I forget about it altogether. Here it is. We planned to talk about different aspects of routine, such as expectations and change of location. I sectioned up my entry based on those.
Here's some links to 2 things I mentioned in my entry. Wasn't sure how to link it in, will just put it here for now.
Screen Reminder
-A little Python 3.X program I wrote that pops up a Tkinter window every 15-25 minutes to remind me to look away from the computer at something ~20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Based it off of the "20-20-20" rule I read
here
-In other words, the program reminds me to take breaks. I don't follow the rule dogmatically, just the idea of reminding for breaks has helped me a lot.
-Also, had a text file keep track of how many times it popped up the window. So far, 1966 times! (6/24/17)
-Dropbox link
here. Added a little "readme.txt" just to get minor details in.
Air Bomber
-Game project I worked on at VGDC game dev. club here at UCI. itch.io link
here.
Also, link to prompt and last draft I made. Did put legitimate time and thought in to this, so wanted to acknowledge my own work haha.
Prompt: Dropbox link
Last Draft: Dropbox link
===========
Intro:
It’s my first year here at UCI, and in college in general, and
I wanted to write a bit about how I feel like I’ve changed over this year, how
my routine changed mainly. With the change in pace in high school and being
away from family, I feel like I’ve gotten more time to think about my life, and
I guess I’ve gotten the time to want to write this as well. I’d say it’d be
mainly a life marker for me to look back to in the future, writing down tips
and details, but hey, if anyone reads this (and thanks for reading too), I hope
you get something out of it as well.
Expectations and Results:
Coming out of high school felt quite like a bit of a release
for me. Looking back at it, I felt like it was way too intense, too much work.
The math and English homework was a lot, and maybe I was just getting tired of
classwork in general. The teachers were nice, but the workload wasn’t.
One month after high school, I’d be starting Freshman Edge
here at UCI, which was pretty much taking summer classes. Psych 7A wasn’t a
pretty good class for me (I’m not someone for memorizing a bunch of facts), and
UNI STU 83 was a sort of “adjusting to UCI” introduction class. Nonetheless
though, it was pretty much the first time I got to live sort of on my own, with
a roommate in a double room. Away from parents and most everyone I knew. It
felt really nice to me, like I’d get a chance to put a “fresh start” on my
life. I mean, to be more realistic, my
parents were still paying my tuition, but still, it was as close to what I call
a “fresh start” as I could think of.
When Fall Quarter started, I was feeling pretty excited. Starting
with Freshman Edge, I felt like I had more free time than I did than high
school, and I wanted to do so much. But I’ve noticed over time I have my
limits, and I’d rather do less classes so I could focus on my programming hobby
more. I mean, doing computer science classes, I was learning programming there,
but I wanted as much free time to do my own thing for my own enjoyment.
My original plan back in the beginning was, “I’m going to
start with 3 classes, then I’m going to do 4 every single quarter until the
end, and I’ll consider 3 classes as sort of like a backup, when I need a
break.” But that definitely didn’t happen. Fall quarter, did 3 classes. After
Winter quarter, 4. First time trying out 4 classes, and I felt that was
intense. This last spring quarter coming to an end, I started to try to do 4
classes, but dropped out of a GE (General Education) class because of the
workload, so I could focus more on my other three: Writing 39C, ICS 33, and
Math 3A.
I’d look back at it right now, and can say in one point, these
classes were heavy. Writing 39C is a lot of writing, a little less than high
school, but still a lot (my instructor was nice, and the mass incarceration
topic was interesting, it was just that the curriculum required us to write
these large Historical Conversations Project (HCP) and Advocacy Project (AP)
papers). And ICS 33 had weekly quizzes and large programming assignments, that
was heavy already. Math 3A was a good workload, though, with a weekly
assignment. So ya, maybe for one, I was just taking pretty intense classes this
time.
But I look at it in another way, and I’m now thinking to
myself that I’d probably won’t be able to handle 4 classes every quarter
continuously anymore. I’d burn out. Even if I was able to handle it, I’d won’t
feel as free to do my hobbies in my free time. I’d be tired out studying. Interestingly,
I came out of high school with enough college credits to be considered
sophomore status on entering UCI. And if I were to do a lot of classes, I
probably would be graduating in 3 years. But I’d rather spend an extra year to
not burn myself out so that I can pursue my own interests. I admit, that’d
raise my tuition a lot, to be at the university for the next year (then again,
I wonder why tuition is so high here). I’d feel bad for having increasing
financial strain on my family, but I think being able to pursue my interests
more would be better for me in the long run, and I think I’ll be able to land a
better job with the skills to pay off the tuition more with my parents. Anyways,
that was my first expectation: was thinking about taking so many classes, but I
would rather take less now so I can pursue my hobbies more.
Location:
Switching topics, when it came to locations and routine here
at UCI, I first thought I’d always want to stay in the same place and work
continuously. There were a few “quiet places” here at UCI I could go to study
and work on hobby stuff, like the Ayala Science Library, but over time I
realized I wanted to be more flexible with myself than that.
Now that I think about it more, I don’t think my change in
location routine was much by choice. I was developing some knee pain this
quarter. It may have been by carrying my laptop all over with me back then or
just (more likely) that I wasn’t exercising that much. Anyways, with the knee
pain, I started to stay in my dorm room more, and I now biked around campus.
And so when class would finish, I’d bike back to my dorm if I wanted to
continue to work on my laptop.
As I’m writing this in my dorm, I’d say I’d look over my
routine moving and around and say going to the same place just to study was a
bit too much. It was more convenient for me to stay in my dorm room and use my computer
here. Plus carrying my laptop all over the place became cumbersome. With that
though, being in my room with a bed next to me all the time, I sort of feel
more often to stay sedentary (sitting on the computer is a lot already), and I
know it’s bad for me to do that all the time. I try to do in-place jumping and pushups once
every while to keep myself healthy. I can’t run because of my knee, but I wish
I could do it again. I miss it a lot. Maybe over the summer, I’ll get a chance
again. Quiet hours at night has always been an issue here at my dorm,
unfortunately, but still, overall it became more convenient to keep my laptop
in my room so I didn’t have to lug it everywhere I went.
With regards to using my laptop a lot, ya, even that too,
with a programming hobby, I’ve felt like over time that I need to take more
breaks. I wrote a “Screen Reminder” program in Python that pops up a tkinter
window saying “Screen Eye Reminder” every 15 – 25 minutes (I randomize it every
run). I made it mainly to remind myself to look away from the computer every
once so often. It makes my eyes feel better, --seriously--. I do it all the
time now. I used to always wear Gunnar Gaming classes when I used the computer,
but now with just taking breaks, I don’t use them anymore, and I don’t have to
worry about dirt on glasses (I use the glasses only when playing video games
now, which I do rarely now too.). Anyways, besides that, I feel like the
program helps me to take a break/walk outside more often. It feels great to do
that, relaxes my eyes and clears my head too.
Lastly, with being in my room a lot, I can say my roommate
is away most of the time too, even on weekdays. It actually used to be the
other way around back in Fall and Winter Quarter if I remember right, with me
outdoors and him indoors. He usually goes back home every weekend too. I guess
in one sense, routine-wise, I feel more comfortable working in an emptier
environment. Easier to concentrate. (I’d say it the same to anyone, not just my
roommate. Just in general, the less noise, the more comfortable I feel.).
Nonetheless, I admit it can get pretty lonely here too. It’s
a hard balance, in my opinion. For one, I’d like to be alone so I can
concentrate and feel at ease. But on the other hand, being by yourself all the
time can take its toll. I guess, I’d just like it if It was always quiet around
my room so I can work on stuff, but it’d be nice maybe outdoors, when I’m more
free at mind, to get ideas running with someone once in a while.
How I feel Like I’ve Changed:
For a start, looking at the expectations and results I wrote
about earlier, I feel like a big thing I’ve learned about in my first year is
to take my time with things. I’d rather do less school-wise so I can focus on
my hobbies, and with anything in general, I’ve found it more comfortable to
take more breaks. I’ve gotten to try a lot of programming in my spare time, and
I’ve realized not to overload myself. Living in a dorm, I’ve gotten more time
to think on my own, which I really appreciate. All the breathing room and
stuff. And with taking more breaks, as I mentioned before I found myself going
outdoors more. It cleared my head and relaxed my eyes. Just made me relaxed in
general. I wasn’t like super happy, I just felt calmed.
Being in the Video Game Development Club here at UCI was
quite a game changer too, pun intended. I participated back in Winter 2017. I
had a game idea called Air Bomber. It ended up being a 2D downwards side
scroller where you drop bombs below on enemies before continuing downwards. I
ended up in a 3 person team. When I originally pitched the idea online, no one
signed up, and I was about to choose another group during a club meeting until
two other people show up. So ya, then we worked on Air Bomber on Unity. We
finished the game in one quarter, like I’d planned. That was a seriously big
experience before. I’ve had a little bit of experience with game development
before, but this time I dedicated as much time as I could to make sure it was
finished. Looking back at it, I’m proud of it. It’s not a super AAA game, but I
learned a lot of programming from it. But I wished I could’ve made the scope
lower. One person in the group was new, but I wanted to increase the scope to
push myself and the artist in the group (he had experience too). But I realized
that it feels better in the long run to get everyone’s ideas in, not leave
anyone out. That probably means the game’s not going to be as good, but it
feels better for everyone in the end (and you still learn stuff too). I’d say
if you’re ever in a situation where you’ve got a team and some of your team
members are genuinely interested but new to the experience, lower the project
expectations and encourage group ideas more. And if it really is that low
scoped, have a personal self project to push yourself during the time.
One of the most major things I feel like changed my life a
lot is limiting my digital entertainment. I’ve decided to cut off my social
media virtually entirely, and I’m trying to minimize what I watch on YouTube as
much as possible. I feel like in the past, I sort of got hooked onto these
things. Not obsessed, that’d be too dramatic. I just feel like I’ve done so
much time on Facebook and YouTube, I wasn’t liking it anymore, and I wanted to
do other things with my life, like pursuing programming, hobbies in general. Besides,
I hardly ever posted on Facebook, just used it for homework and looking at the
news feed. The messaging was fun, but I missed talking in person more. Even as
rare as that is, an in-person talk felt more genuine than online chatting. Video
games and movies, I didn’t feel too obsessed with them, I really enjoyed them. Overall,
they’re just technology, they don’t force me to use it, it was up to me to
limit it. And by doing it, ya, I don’t feel as excited anymore, but I feel
amazingly clear-headed because of this, just as much as taking my time.
Final Thoughts
So that’s my first year at UCI, routine-wise. Getting some
free time, pursuing my hobbies, taking my time. I see that I’ve changed a lot,
and I plan to keep these habits in my life. I’m pursuing a general computer
science major. Just looking for a stable job now. I still want to do game dev
in my spare time. I still dream of making a cool 3D game, with a nice team. Social-wise,
well, I haven’t really connected with anyone this year. Though I’m not really
talkative I’ve realized. I really enjoy these hobbies dearly, just personal
projects in general. I hope to find someone one day I could really pursue them
with, and bounce ideas off each other. Maybe someone I know already would be
interested, not sure. Or maybe someone in the future. Anyways, ya, that’s where
I am, looking forward. Keeping it slow, pursuing what I love, hoping to find
others to team up with in the future. It’s not the happiest life, but it’s one
I’m happy to live.
So to sign off, here are some tips I felt like I’ve gained
for myself. Hope it helps anyone reading this:
-Don’t overload yourself. Take breaks. Stay healthy.
-Don’t overload yourself with media and online messaging. Appreciate
less, and think more for yourself. Yes, you can always be connected with
others, but you should make time alone to think about your life as well.
-Pursue your hobbies. Find what you love. Make some cool
stuff, not just watch, listen, or copy it. I’d say the best hobbies are those
that allow you to pursue your own ideas.
-Even with hobbies, don’t do them alone always. Find others
to work on team hobbies too.
-Be yourself. I’d even argue that being yourself is more
important than having friends, but that’s a huge extreme I admit. Not sure
about that, would have to look back at this in the future.
-Ask for help if you need to, and give help in return. I
haven’t asked too much in the forums with programming for example, but people
were nice to respond, and I’d like to give back too one day (when I can
actually answer haha).
-Take your time. Life’s too short to rush to do everything.
