What Do You Do When CS Isn't Fun Any More?

wonderless asks: "Long ago and far away, I thought that I was going to be a Great Geek, and that I was going to provoke a revolution in the computer industry--and indeed, the world--with my mastery of technology. I could hardly wait to throw myself into an intense, highly technical curriculum and shine. But as I said, that was long ago and far away. Now I'm one semester away from graduation, with a 3.5 average overall and a lackluster 3.0 in CS, and I'm liking it less and less every day. I used to be able to say that at least it pays well, but now I can't even take solace in that. I drag myself to classes and through projects, and it all seems really pointless--I'm just implementing what's written in the book, and eradicating the countless off-by-one bugs is nothing short of mind-numbing. I'd like nothing better than to recapture the feeling of joy I used to get out of doing this, and to once again be able to say I'm doing what I love. What do you do when it isn't fun any more, but you'd like it to be?"

What to do

[krugee]

Quit. Join the French Foregin Legion.

work for McDonalds

[Count]

see how long it takes you to appreciate love and adore the wonderfull joys of CS. I am guessing one day tops!

Your answer is in daytime tv

[badfish2]

Hit the networks. See what Oprah recommends. Maybe Maury can help you out. Find someone to scream at(maybe a professor - pick a feisty one) and duke it out on Springer.

Re:What to do

[krugee]

Which is remarkably similar to the French Foreign Legion.

Oh no!

[Jack William Bell]

Dude, like you gotta go into Management or something. Quick, look in the mirror and see if your hair is starting to get pointy.

Jack

Re:Go do something else, maybe

[ekrout]

I have two degrees, one in CS and one in Archaeology. CS isn't what I want my career to be in, but I can take my computer skills and development knowledge and apply it to archaeology problems.

Yeah, and I can take my engineering degree and apply it to 18th-century western European literature.

Re:Pay

[Anonymous Coward]

My Bartender's Acedemy degree has gotten me much more tail than my EE degree.

Re:Go do something else, maybe

[epsalon]

CS + Archeology!
You can then get a job studying old XT, DRAGON-32 and COMMODORE-64 machines...

Re:What to do

[An Onerous Coward]

Soldier: Sir! Sir! I've done it!

Captain: Done what, Corporal?

Soldier: I've finally forgotten why I joined the French Foreign Legion!

Captain: [clicks a couple of keys on his computer] According to our records, you joined because you were bored with Computer Science, and because of a girl named Samantha.

Soldier: Sigh. I'll go patrol the hills again, shall I?

Join the Army!

[wiredog]

You'll get money for grad school. Learn how to fire cool weapons like the M-16 and Stinger! If you become an Airborne Ranger, you will probably get a chance to get shot at! ("There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at, without result." Churchill) Even if you don't see combat, you will get the chance to spend weeks living and working in the mud!

I spent three years in the Army and I love my nice indoor programming job. Even if I am having to spend time this week debugging three year old uncommented VBA programs when I don't know VB Script.

CS + Archaeology ==

[sinator]

Can I borrow your tinning kit for a second? This wumpus corpse isn't getting any fresher!

Get a girlfriend

[crazymadness]

Just get a girlfriend, marry her, knock her up and wait 9 months. CS will look pretty darn good then.

Re:What to do

[kilgore_47]

Risking my life for a foreign country's interests makes even less sense than risking my life for U.S. interests!
And I don't want to be in the army that surrenders to everyone!

Re:Pay

[Vinson Massif]

Heh. Before that hit alt.sysadmin.recovery. It should scare you away; wish I'd seen it.

Re:

[Bobo the Space Chimp]

If religion were a science, standardized testing for the existance of a god would instantly demonstrate no gods (or other supernatural forces) exist.

So, religion, to continue to exist, would have to propose that God deliberately hides whenever we look, and that would make religion look very dopey.

Oh, wait a minute.

Nevermind.

Not just any coop

[Cadre]

Very good advice, but I'd like to add that one shouldn't just look for any coop or internship. Find something interesting.

I did a coop for a Department of Defense contracter. Writing code for sonar/radar targetting systems is a lot more satisfying then writing yet another web backend (e.g.: contrast "Congratulations - you've just completeled your first succesful web transaction" with "Congratulations - you've just detected, identified, and tracked your very first Russian Tango.")

Re:What to do

[Bobo the Space Chimp]

Not at all!

The French Foreign Legion is where you go when you want to forget.

The French Fore-gin Legion is where you go when you want to forget, fast.

Re:Get a girlfriend

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on, we're talking about a CS major here..

You need to get laid.

[Anonymous Coward]

I had the same problem. I went to Nevada and spent a weekend getting as much poontang as I could afford, with no strings attached. When I came back I was ready to get back to work.
--
Mabelode the Faceless

Re:CS + Archeology...

[balthan]

Is that a game about dead potatoes?

Here's an idea...

[stepson]

They are called girls. Thats what Lisa from The Simpsons is. A girl. They are soft, sometimes nice, and have boobies. Boobies are good. Once you've discovered girls (one may even be your Pascal teacher!), you should persue them. For years you won't even be able to build up the courage to do anything other than puke on them, or maybe drool and stutter uncontrollably, but eventually you may get the courage to ask one out. After another few years of that, assuming you haven't slit your wrists from the pain of rejection, one may even say yes! Even though it'll most likely be out of pity, you too may get a shot at boobi... i mean girls. Yes girls, recompiling your kernel for the 8millionth time may be fun, but nothing beats girls! Or trolling on /. ... but the hour is late, and that is a different tale ...