Long Time no writing, hope to get back to this gradually though. So many things just require your attention as you grow older and Netflix keeps winning for me lool. Uhmm If I get a job as a User Experience Designer focused on the movie Experience at Netflix I definitely should be able to watch lots of movies as my job description, right?????

I have once written a thread on how I got into Tech on Twitter and this is just part of that story that didn’t get so much attention and that is how I am a scientist(Technically).

When I was doing my Bachelors if there is one thing I remember it is that I always tried different things. In my first year, I was the model serious student, I was barely 16 when I started and so I was really naive to these things. I got into school and I remember using my laptop for only school work. I believed that a computer was a tool to get assignments done and to keep ebooks for my courses. I was so wrong, I got a GPA of 3.5 with an F in English( this shit is so funny as of course I have been taught English since birth).

The next semester I decided to experiment and I watched so many movies, in short, I lived. I literally became the guy to meet for any new movie. I remember clearly adding my name and room number into the subtitles of movies I shared so I could know the movie I downloaded. That was cheesy though. I played a lot of Call of Duty, ahhh I lived a lot, literally one of the best times of my life. Of course, I still read my books but instead of reading all the time, I decided to pace my reading and read a little very frequently this meant I could have reading blocks of 20 to 30mins scattered across my day. I read and re-read my notes as opposed to doing reading blocks of say 4hours. I played as much I studied. I ACTUALLY PASSED WELL THAT SEMESTER, I had a GPA of 4.2.

That was how I continued, rewarding myself for every little work I did and I actually had significant results overall.

I actually did another experiment while in school.

My teachers back then made it seem like we had to be good programmers because we studied computer science. I was actually good at that shit funnily. Within my four years in school, I learned and practiced HTML, CSS, PHP, Java, App Dev. (on Android Studio) amongst others. Some were part of my courses but most were things I picked way before we were taught in school.

My purpose then wasn’t actually to be great at it, I just wanted to see what it was about, if I would like it as much as other things I tried. My first paid Web Project was in my third year when I built a site for someone and literally YouTubed my way through (I had access to high-speed broadband then).

When I left school, the last thing I picked up was Design and that’s where I have been since 2017 except for the occasional coding to make quick cash and to update myself on the new things in the industry. I have stayed in Design but moved across different aspects also lool, I don’t think we were created to stay in one place(I mean this in as many aspects as you can think of).

As for my experiments in recent times, I can mention a few;

• I was a good Call of Duty player while in university and I wanted to see if that behavior/hobby is something I could revive so I had my friend’s PS4 at my place for a month and I didn’t play it for up to 2hours and that was the end of my wanting to buy a game console idea.
• When I had a bunch of assignments to turn in last month( May 2021), I got frustrated because I didn't know what to do and I procrastinated on some and they came on piling up. I decided to do just one assignment per day and sometimes this was less than 3hours of work and then I reward myself by watching my tv shows. Today is June 6th and I just have one left lool.
• For my monthly expenses, I have a budget and so far in the last 3months, I have spent more which is not okay as I was okay with the budget prior to now. I have however noticed new spending behaviors which is proportional to the amount of free time I have ( The semester is coming to an end, which means no school soon). Still trying to crack this, no definite solution in sight yet.
• I noticed my platonic relationships are kinda struggling because of several factors. My current solution is actually knowing who are those that we still align and trying to keep up with them. By the way, I once had reminders on my calendar to call my friends.
• My Calendar is so important now, as I grow older I see that they are several things that I should be on top of, and because of that my life is literally my calendar and Google Keep.

If my understanding of what Design is is correct then I just might be doing this well. That is the iterative part, the fact that nothing should remain in the same state. Everything should be in a state of continual change because we change, our environment changes and we only know what we like by first trying things out and then comparing.

I remember a few years ago when a senior acquaintance told me I should be worried about Job Security and in my head, I was like “I am 22, I don’t care about job security”. I will be 24 this year and that is still not on my mind, but of course, I want some stability in terms of income to aid my planning but I honestly want to try and see if combining that with my happiness is possible and so far it has been going well.

I guess the reason why I have continued to try different things is that there are a lot of things to try out there and all of them don’t guarantee the same value in terms of happiness and I am just curious.

Almost one week after writing the above without posting, I am back to conclude this article and share.

Also, it’s easier to experiment when you are younger because as you grow older, there are more responsibilities and commitment which means as you are now you can try more things compared to the next 5 years.