The Path to the Present

In this post, I just wanted to put down my experience throughout the past year. It's a story of a young man's trials and walk with God during a trying time in his life.

So, this all began when I graduated from UC Berkeley on December 2017. I had envisioned myself in the software industry, but I had also anticipated that the next steps after graduation would be difficult since I had only done minor jobs so far and no relevant internship experience. I did want to apply and work in an internship while I was a student, but the fact that I transferred to UC Berkeley (which operates in the semester system) from UCSB (which runs in a quarter system) created some unforeseen complications in terms of course unit equivalency and ultimately resulted in the need to further take / retake several courses I had taken before. Given this fact and my desire to take computer science courses along with the courses for my math major, my schedule was incredibly tight and I had to take courses even during the breaks. To add to this, my dad's health took a bad turn at the start of my senior year. Since I lived with my parents during my years in UC Berkeley, his health was a source of constant concern for me and my mom. The pressure was high, and it was generally a tough time for me especially during the my last year in UC Berkeley. Although I was not and still am not the best Christian, I learned to depend on God for strength. I remained steadfast and finished the race.

I took a long break after graduation, in which I considered my next steps. I got to travel across the United States with my dad during this break and caught up on some much needed rest. I began the application process for software engineering positions during mid April, with mixed results. I did get far with some interviews but, alas, there was no cigar. I worked on a space shooter game I dubbed "Infinitum" as a personal project during this time and even got started on another project on Unity (which is unfortunately lost forever due to my computer getting broken, along with the artwork I made for it). There were times when I would feel down, but I was fortunate to have my parents and friends who cheered me on to continue the good fight. It was also during this time that I began to exercise regularly to keep up my strength and maybe even get stronger/fitter than I was before. (By the way, exercise really does wonders in improving one's overall mood and outlook on life. I'll talk more about this in a future blog post)

It was during August while I was sitting in a coffee shop and lightly reading the scriptures that I had the thought to learn new skills in web development. I had spoken to some software engineer friends (some of whom had similar backgrounds to mine), and they had mentioned that taking online courses and online college lectures had helped tremendously. I had felt that my skill set could use a lot of improvement, but was not really certain how to go about doing it barring a return to school. So, I chose a web development bootcamp course and dedicated about 4-5 hours every day to my studies. It was also around this time that I began a part-time office job for Lan Do & Associates, LLC, so that I could keep a regular schedule and make some money to treat my family and friends. (More about my experiences/lessons from Lan Do & Associates in a future post! It has been such a privilege to have been able to work in this company with such wonderful boss and co-workers.)

So, my life from that point on was like so: wake up at 6:30 AM, get to work at 8 AM (I made a point to arrive early everyday, usually around 10-20 minutes early), work till 12 PM, get home around 1PM to eat lunch, then go to the library starting at 1:30 or 2PM and study until anywhere around 8-10PM. Some days would be very productive and some less so, but I remained consistent in my endeavor and was able to finish the course around mid October. Having finished the course, I began working on this personal webpage starting at the last third of October. As the next step, I plan to start studying iOS app development and Unity game development (even after I land a job in the software industry).

The journey is not yet over, but I've truly learned and grown a lot through these times of trial. There were times when it would be hard to maintain optimism, but I'm so thankful that I could always turn to my family, friends, and God for strength. I'd say that the following hymn is a pretty good summary of my experiences / overall feeling of the months after graduation:

During the hard times, my initial reaction was to question God, asking "Why did you forsake me? Why do you put me through these times?". As time went on, however, I learned a simple truth: all things in our lives, be they good or bad in our eyes, are part of God's purpose to help us grow and learn to depend not on our own strength, but upon His boundless grace. Indeed, it is in the toughest of times that Christians should call on the name of Christ Jesus, and He is faithful to be with us in all of our situations.

In the end, all I can say is: "Hallelujah!"