After this summer vacation, I will be a third-year student.
I used to think that the third year was far away when I was a freshman, and internships and jobs were distant, but now they are all right in front of me.
I have updated my devices, changed the knowledge I need to learn, witnessed the transition of the starry sky, and the graduation of my senior brothers and sisters... many things have changed, but the only thing that remains unchanged is that I am still as inexperienced as ever.
Freshman Year#
You probably won't believe it when I say it out loud.
The pressure in my freshman year was even greater than in my sophomore year, maybe because I was just thinking about how to survive at that time.
How to survive in the starry sky.
When the new student recruitment was held at the beginning of the semester, I avoided the Student Union and the school association, and was deceived by a stylish senior sister into joining the starry sky.
Although I haven't seen this senior sister since then.
But since I'm here, I might as well learn something.
I originally planned to do this until I went through two assessments and realized that not working hard might lead to elimination.
I vaguely understood the materials sent by my senior brothers,
wrote code without comments,
and inexplicably completed the functions we were supposed to implement,
stayed up late and skipped classes to complete the group project in the training camp.
I was like a newborn calf not afraid of tigers, often bothering my senior brothers and sisters with all sorts of questions. Although there were times when they didn't reply to me and I had to figure things out on my own, I also annoyed my senior brothers and sisters with my questions... I vaguely remember being scolded by them.
Freshman year was the most dedicated time, without much confusion, just focused on studying.
There was no special reason, I just didn't want to lose.
Sophomore Year#
I thought I would become a CTO right away, but I ended up being brought back to my original position and became an associate director.
If I really got that position, it would have been a lucky break for me, and now I feel relieved.
Although I was unhappy about being passed over, I know that I still have a lot to improve.
During the new student recruitment, I also learned about a tradition in the starry sky.
The older members would come back and pretend to be new recruits.
When I persuaded someone for half an hour and he told me that he was one of us, I decided to continue this tradition. (Give me back my business card!)
Interviews were also an opportunity, and the older members didn't let it go. They were all insiders.
My CTO came in without saying a word, took our questionnaire and started answering it.
The last question was about what kind of people programmers are (I forgot the exact question, but it was something like that), and the freshmen gave serious answers like:
"Devoted to the field of technology"
"Diligently studying"
"Very rigorous"
But he drew a picture, a few stick figures together, with stars above them, a sun in the upper left corner, and a moon in the upper right corner. Two arrows connected them, and there was a computer below with the word "coding" written on it. When we saw that simple drawing, we wanted to laugh because we knew he was just messing around. Naturally, we had to go along with it and tease him: "You drew a picture under our question, can we assume that your attitude towards this interview is not proper, or can you explain the meaning of this drawing?"
"Oh, I just think that programmers are like good friends, working hard together under the same starry sky, from day to night, coding and learning together."
This became the answer I admired the most.
Looking at his receding hairline, I gained a bit of respect for him. When he left for an internship at Sina in Beijing, I happened to be buying bubble tea. After I sent him off, he said he would treat me to a meal when he comes back, although I'm still waiting for that.
Starting as an associate director is nothing more than repeating what the previous associate director did, giving lectures to new students, with almost the same content, and even the assessments were identical.
I once had the enthusiasm to create a product, but all my ideas were rejected.
The teacher wanted a single-function, simple project, and almost told me directly to do a "mini program".
If you can't beat them, join them!
So I started learning front-end development and decided to pursue a career in that direction.
The pandemic forced me to stay at home for a semester,
abandoning social interactions at school, not worrying about whether I could get food, and in return, I had a more comfortable time playing computer games and using my phone at home.
I was like a carefree 20-year-old.
But there were also benefits,
during meetings and when teaching freshmen, I couldn't see the people below me, which saved me from imagining them as turnips.
During every meeting, the chubby senior sister would always show up and speak up, giving us advice and pouring us some motivational words.
She even proclaimed herself as the programmer's encouragement officer in our Technology Research and Development Center.
Although I feel that listening to her encouragement is not as effective as self-improvement, having such a position is better than nothing.
I think she is a very important person to the starry sky.
I borrowed her "Introduction to Algorithms" and it's still in the office. I don't know if I will have a chance to return it to her.
The End#
When school starts, it will be time for the transition. The energy of the freshmen makes me, a sophomore, feel really old.
In middle school, I thought that getting into a good high school would be enough for a stable life.
In high school, I thought that going to college would be enough for a stable life.
But after entering college, I realized that there are still many things to worry about.
I can never stop, and I don't know which direction to take next.
At the end of my sophomore year, with regrets and reluctance, I will continue on to the next stage.