Programming.

So, I decided to branch out before locking myself into a major--most likely English, but you know how it goes--and enrolled in a computer programming class this semester.  My thinking was, if I love video games so much, why not see if I could help create them for a living.

Erroneous assumption, right there.  See, in my naivete, I neglected to realize that computer programmers are involved in much, much more than merely video games.  On the first day, our professor reflected on the fact that cars made after 2011 generally utilize about forty CPU's. Mind. Blown.

Predictably, the first few weeks were easy.  Mostly learning the in's and out's of computers, as well as the specialized lingo most programmers use.  My confidence level was regrettably high.  Then came the actual programming.  Now, I'm as bright as the next kid, even generally more so, but the moment I attempted to code in Java I felt like a caveman trying to drag a cart on square wheels.

Bewildered, I approached my professor to ask his advice.  He merely shrugged and told me if it was too difficult, I should drop the class.  Immediately, my hackles went up.  Drop the class?  Admit defeat?  Oh no, sir.  I mentally hiked up my pants before stomping back to my computer to stare at the incomprehensible strings of characters.

After a frustrating twenty minutes in which I pestered my neighbor to the point that he most likely wanted to strangle me, I was staring at a fully functional program.  Granted, it only found the average of three numbers, and took about ten minutes of error hunting to make passable, but there it was.  Delighted, I ran the program at least five times, inputting numbers, and suppressing a shriek of glee each time it ran smoothly.

Then I made the mistake of glancing over at my neighbor's screen, which displayed a program to calculate payroll.  This alone would not have been impressive if hadn't realized that he'd included taxes, overtime, vacation hours, and holidays.

Luckily, I resisted the urge to reach over and alt+f4 that showoff.

But it was close.