" I wanted to be a programmer, and I wanted to earn my Computer Science degree"

[Lupe]

That experience sent me into a bit of a tailspin. I was in a funk for about six months, mostly just playing video games. Finally in an attempt to re-ground myself, I got a retail sales job and tried to stay under the radar while taking some time to “find myself.” That was the time I began developing an interest in personal development, and boy did it pay off. A year later I was ready to go back to college, and I started over as a freshman. But this time I knew why I was there. I wanted to be a programmer, and I wanted to earn my Computer Science degree (I later added the Math degree). But it was more than that. I knew I was capable of a lot more, and I wanted to push myself. I wanted to create the richest experience I could. For me that meant a really dense schedule.

Your goals for college will likely be different than mine. What are they? Why are you there? If you don’t know — and I mean really know it in your gut — then you have no focal point for your experience. You may as well not even be there. What is it about your experience that resonates as true for you? What are you there to learn? What do you want to experience?

Dear Mr. Pavlina,

Did you have personal development in mind when you wanted to be a programmer? (Using programming skills for personal development teaching?)

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Lupe

Dear Mr. Pavlina,

Did you have personal development in mind when you wanted to be a programmer? (Using programming skills for personal development teaching?)

Nope, not at all. I just wanted to work with computers in some way.