What does one do after college? | Surf Roots, Software Thoughts

It seems like we all have a few options: pursue something that makes us happy, pursue something that makes others happy, pursue something that should be pursued by someone of our academic status (finance majors work for financial companies, cs majors work for cs companies, etc), or just don’t pursue anything at all. I’m definitely not going to do the latter, but what about the three former options? Is it selfish to pursue something that makes you happy but doesn’t help others? Is it dangerous to pursue something that doesn’t make you happy but makes others happy? Is it foolish to not pursue something that someone like you should pursue? These are the questions that I’m trying to answer right now.

I would like to put myself in a position where my work directly helps someone else. I would like to put myself in a position where I love my work. I would like to put myself in a position where my technical and leadership skills will be challenged. How does a computer scientist truly help those that need help? I think it’s relatively easy for a computer scientist to find a job after college that they enjoy and that stretches their thinking (e.g. Redfin or Google), but what about helping others? Is it good enough to help your coworkers, family, and friends, or do you have to do more?

I asked my 82-year-old grandpa these questions when I saw him over Thanksgiving break. He started his life as a weapons engineer, where his job was to manufacture weapons to kill the most amount of people for the least amount of manufacturing costs. He later became a sociology lecturer at Chapel Hill and a guardian ad litem once he realized how his weapons work was helping people. I asked him, “Grandpa, how do you really make a difference and help people?” His response was, “I don’t know, but I think asking yourself that question is the first step.”

I don’t know the answers to these questions either, but the hope of this post is to get underclassmen college students thinking. Eventually you’ll be faced with the decision, just like I am now, to start your post-college life, and my only hope is that you decide to do something that solves a true problem, that helps other people in a real way. I also hope that you enjoy what you do and are challenged to become a better/smarter/etc person.

Now max out the volume on your computer, click the “play” button on this YouTube video, and close your eyes. It makes you forget about everything else, huh? What a wonderful song. “Hide And Seek” by iMogen Heap

Speaking of happiness

Pingback: Alex Loddengaard’s Blog » Speaking of Helping People, Presenting helpd.org
http://goodmorningeconomics.wordpress.com jsalvati

This is a false dichotomy. Most things that are personally rewarding are rewarding because they help others. Successful businesses are generally successful because they help lots of people.

That said, your responsibility is to yourself. You should do what most motivates you (sorta redundant). If you are most motivated to help people out directly through some type of charity, you should do that. If you are most motivated to become a professional surfer, do that. If you’re most motivated to become build software that makes you a lot of money, do that. As an extremely competent person, you should do whatever most motivates you because it is the most likely thing to advance general human prosperity, because that’s where you’ll work the hardest at and where you’re most likely to see opportunities others don’t. Never feel guilty about doing this.
alevy

I was going to make fun for posting that song, but then I listened to it and remembered it was actually awesome.
alevy

What motivates you might not be just one thing – charity work, surfing, building software etc’. Sometimes what makes you satisfied at the end of the day could be something more abstract, something that neither working for Google, surfing, nor volunteering at UNICEF can provide. What do you do then? I don’t really have a good answer.
I think a person can be doing everything they like – that motivate them – and still have this feeling that it’s not right.
I think there’s value in at least trying to find that *one thing* (maybe a job) that encapsulates all of your motivations.
http://www.myspace.com/connielim Connie

Alex, your efforts to keep life pure and meaningful bring you miles forward. I feel that the only thing any of us can do is to stay as consistent as we can, while still embracing necessary change. Reading your blog made me sincerely happy, since it’s refreshing to really hear what my friends think about the very real decisions we choose to make.

Something I truly believe in is being bitingly honest with yourself in order to progress. This progress will help us put effort into obtaining the things that are most important to us, whether the odds are difficult or easy.

We’re all driven by different histories, friends, and dialogues, but I truly believe we crave to feel and give love. To establish true human contact. And however we do that, as a musician or computer scientist, is totally open for interpretation and execution. How beautiful is that?

Much love.
Pingback: Alex Loddengaard’s Blog » Computing for the Developing World