nicksaiz65 Odyssey

[nicksaiz65]

Your words mean nothing, at this point. Your actions will say it all.

Sorry I just got out of class so I haven’t had time to read all of this.

But I will say that other than me messing up on the Math Assignments, I’ve been putting in the work.

I got tutoring two days in a row. Turns out I have to run it from the command line. And he said since I came in he’ll let me make up a lab.

I think I’m just stressed with all these impending deadlines

 

[nicksaiz65]

Yeah theory is all good but remember guys have been getting laid since the ice age. If anything, you are hesitating and putting girls on the pedastal. Enough of this bitching. Focus on your studying. Get that **** done, study smart. Change your habits if its still ****. You have two months now. Exams soon.

Yup, 2 months until finals. Really interesting because I’d say we’ve only turned in like 35% of the work for each class.

As for Game? I do know a lot. The Nerdlove stuff would probably do me just fine, I see a lot of myself in that style and plus it’s simple and just makes sense. If I stick with that style of Game and just stop doubting myself for once in my life, it should do just fine cause like you guys said you don’t need that much theory other than maybe a bit for fun, plus it’s a complete strategy like I had always wanted. I had considered today that I just keep using more and more theory to shield myself like a bubble. Pook had an article on that. I suppose I’ll just abide by the Nerdlove stuff so I don’t have to worry about theory at all(cause I know it and it’ll do just fine at getting me laid.) In the meantime I can play the numbers game which will take up none of my time, and keep working on earning my grades.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Nick I'd kill for your situation. My exams are next week. We have quarters instead of semesters. 10 weeks.

If I were in your shoes, I'd start knocking things out so I can study for exams starting next week. Even if that meant 1 hour a day. But that's just me.

You’re taking finals already? Jesus Christ.

Honestly, I think the hardest test is gonna be Math next week. It’s good I have this week and the whole weekend to study. But I need to do each practice problem at least twice. I want that 75 I made to be my dropped test. Also I’ll try to make this journal more goal oriented instead of just random thoughts floating through my head.

Gradeswise, I’m not in such a terrible position as long as I don’t goof up in the future. Which entails starting early. It’s a good thing I got help on Lab 6.

Idk why, I guess I had a terrible day, but I couldn’t focus one bit in class today. I’ve really gotta be more logical and less emotional.

Also theory wise, I’ll put it down. I now know how not to validate hoes so I need to either be on my purpose or just playing the numbers game imo

 

[nicksaiz65]

Even if its just going over the content. Rinse and repeat. 30-45 mins of deep work x 3 sets per day is better than masturbating for several hours or working like a sled dog in the library. Unless you enjoy it then all cool.

Edit: dependig on my mood and energy, I do both but you better be doing something.

The thing that frustrates me is the pressure honestly. My average grade on my exams has been a 78. That’s not terrible: but to get the grades I want I have to make minimal mistakes on the next ones and the materials harder too.

I know I can do it but I always end up folding under the stress and then venting on here

 

[nicksaiz65]

I think Nick is lost. Big time. He wants to make it but he doesn’t want to declare martial law. You must declare.

Sorry what do you mean by martial law?

 

[shouldbefun]

Sorry what do you mean by martial law?

Being focused on your tasks. Priorities and action.

 

[Papa_smu]

Would it help if going to the library was fun? Or knowing you are going to be programming for the next 8 hours was ten times better than going to the night club? If you have a high interest in something, especially development, you tend to do better at it since you're doing it more.

When I started programming when I was working my customer service job, I immediately was hooked. Working 8-9 hours on the phone and then making an hour-long trip back to my home was totally worth spending the next 4-5 hours working on little mini projects involving javascript and css. Hell, I enjoyed it so much I ended up quitting my job and coding fulltime just so I could learn on my own. Eight months and a coding bootcamp later I was working for a high profile company downtown with a place right in the middle of the action.

I imagine if you treated your work as a treat or as an intriguing challenge, you'll be willing to spend more time "studying" since you'll like what you're doing. Actually, to be more probing, I'm wondering if you're holding back because you feel guilty that you like programming a lot and you're too afraid to admit it.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Would it help if going to the library was fun? Or knowing you are going to be programming for the next 8 hours was ten times better than going to the night club? If you have a high interest in something, especially development, you tend to do better at it since you're doing it more.

When I started programming when I was working my customer service job, I immediately was hooked. Working 8-9 hours on the phone and then making an hour-long trip back to my home was totally worth spending the next 4-5 hours working on little mini projects involving javascript and css. Hell, I enjoyed it so much I ended up quitting my job and coding fulltime just so I could learn on my own. Eight months and a coding bootcamp later I was working for a high profile company downtown with a place right in the middle of the action.

I imagine if you treated your work as a treat or as an intriguing challenge, you'll be willing to spend more time "studying" since you'll like what you're doing. Actually, to be more probing, I'm wondering if you're holding back because you feel guilty that you like programming a lot and you're too afraid to admit it.

I wouldn't call studying exactly fun, but it's something that has to be done or I'm dead in the water. I'm cool with programming! I like it, it's just extremely frustrating when the stuff doesn't work like I want it to. That's a super fast turnaround for getting a job though!

I will say that I have a fun time programming when the instructions make sense and I have proper tutorials, also when I start in advance so I'm not trying to rush my code. I only get mad when there aren't books or online resources to help me because I ALWAYS end up getting stuck at some point.

Weirdly, I'd rather be indoors than go to a nightclub. I'm still more of an introvert so loud rap music isn't exactly my forte. I mean approaching at bars is fun, but I'm getting off topic.

I'll stick out getting the degree though for sure. If anything, it's the Math that pisses me off. Classes like Calculus 2, Discrete Math, and "Foundations of Computer Science"(They call it that but it's really just Discrete Math 2) really irk me. Especially the last two since there's like no help online. I don't see the application for those classes at all other than to weed people out.

I mean I'll do it, cause I'll get this degree if it's the last thing I do, but sheesh.

Would any of you ever be willing to help me on a programming lab? Not do it for me, but just help me out at some point because the lab the TA said I could re-do is very confusing. Even he said it was a bit tricky.

 

[GrowingPains]

it's just extremely frustrating when the stuff doesn't work like I want it to

That's life if you can learn how to bounce back, you will have learned a valuable skill: how to take a punch. Life is full of punches, so learning to roll with them is crucial.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." MLK Jr

I don't see the application for those classes

The basis of all engineering/science is math. I struggled with seeing the purpose of my math class this quarter too. My advisor put it into perspective for me. See my chef vs. cook analogy from before. You might not use the exact equations from your math class. But what's important is to understand the assumptions and the logical thinking process. Understanding math gives you the ability to think critically. Can I make this assumption? How can I evaluate "this" if that? How can my code be faster based on this discrete method? See what I'm saying?

ALWAYS end up getting stuck at some point.

This is to be expected. You are a STUDENT. You are there to learn. If you knew it all.. would you be in college?

The takeaway here is to start early. You KNOW you mess up with 1-2 days before a deadline. So account for that and allow wayyy more time than you ever have to start something and aim to finish it 2 days before. Assume you're going to mess something up, get stuck and factor that time into your plan. You know you're imperfect so account for it so the end result is the same.

 

[Papa_smu]

I wouldn't call studying exactly fun, but it's something that has to be done or I'm dead in the water.

Be careful. You're falling into the trap again with "studying" code

I will say that I have a fun time programming when the instructions make sense and I have proper tutorials, also when I start in advance so I'm not trying to rush my code. I only get mad when there aren't books or online resources to help me because I ALWAYS end up getting stuck at some point.

You don't truly learn from tutorials and instructors. You learn when you code your own stuff. Hence, you will spend more time in the library if you fiddle code with the concepts you learn. Scratching your own itch per say.

I mean I'll do it, cause I'll get this degree if it's the last thing I do, but sheesh.

If this is the mentality, there is much heartbreak ahead of you.

 

[nicksaiz65]

That's life if you can learn how to bounce back, you will have learned a valuable skill: how to take a punch. Life is full of punches, so learning to roll with them is crucial.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

MLK Jr

Yeah man I feel you definitely taking those punches atm lol

 

[nicksaiz65]

Be careful. You're falling into the trap again with "studying" code




You don't truly learn from tutorials and instructors. You learn when you code your own stuff. Hence, you will spend more time in the library if you fiddle code with the concepts you learn. Scratching your own itch per say.



If this is the mentality, there is much heartbreak ahead of you.

Would you say that coding from scratch would help studying for a test in a programming class as well?

Usually our tests are some vocabulary/matching/definitions, and then some handwritten code. The approach I've been taking is simply memorizing the code for the handwritten sections. With vocab there's no other way but to memorize it.

And then of course we have programs, labs, etc.

Okay, for a specific example, we had to show how a Singleton Class in Java would be implemented. I just memorized which variables needed to be private and the methods and so on.

So you're saying in studying for the test it would be better to implement my own Singleton Classes and truly understand it instead of just trying to brute force it?

I'm just trying to think of different attack angles here for this stuff

 

[nicksaiz65]

Lab 6
Turned in my Lab 6, it went pretty well. I never ever would have solved it if I hadn’t gone to Office Hours. I know where I’ll be from now on.

Also, sidenote, I got rejected 3 times in one day today. Ooooof. Outcome Independence though. Although one girl gave me a counteroffer and continued to text me back. It’s cause my confidence and Game Style were wishy washy. So from now on: Sosuave (DJ Bible) and Dr. Nerdlove Game supplemented with other stuff. Y’all told me to cool it on the theory so I’m doing this so I don’t have to read at all anymore. And Self Improvement. I feel like thinking of school as Self Improvement would help. It’s gonna take years to master Game anyways.

I am burnt out after today guys. I’m taking an hour break. I Lowkey wanna get a drink from the bar before I go to sleep. But idk, I’m very tired right now. Might just drink a SINGULAR beer(not getting drunk during the week that’s just plain dumb), go to sleep, and get up early to get to work.

Also, I’m thinking investing in a physical alarm clock really might help me out...

I’m just glad today’s over. I didn’t even tell you guys about how I had to change pants twice cause of spilling stuff on myself. Yeesh.

So not only did this b*tch not respond to my text or call but I find out through social media that she left the city for a Spring Break vacation. Disrespectful b*tch didn’t even have the decency to tell me or shoot me a text. I’m not contacting her again until I see her in person and check her on that. She’s probably hanging out with her stupid boyfriend tbh

 

[marmel75]

I guess the next best thing to do would be to focus on getting this lab in and completed well. Then I have to start studying for these upcoming tests IN ADVANCE. Like a week ahead of time.

Also while I'm at it, @Papa_smu and @marmel75 I had a question for you guys. So I've found these programs/labs pretty much impossible to solve without me going to the teacher to get help or going to tutoring every single week. But what happens when you're at your programming job and then there's a problem you have no idea how to even start? There's no teachers or tutoring then. Is it just you, the internet and any books you happen to have?

Oh and Marmel, as I'm going through this class idk how to feel about OOP anymore either. Seemed cool at first but it's starting to get frustrating and I'm really beginning to miss procedural programming.

You use Google and stackoverflow. I check those routinely. You need to have a very good understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish tho so you can create a "laser-like" search and quickly find what you are looking for. Its a very, very underrated skill.

 

[marmel75]

Would you say that coding from scratch would help studying for a test in a programming class as well?

Usually our tests are some vocabulary/matching/definitions, and then some handwritten code. The approach I've been taking is simply memorizing the code for the handwritten sections. With vocab there's no other way but to memorize it.

And then of course we have programs, labs, etc.

Okay, for a specific example, we had to show how a Singleton Class in Java would be implemented. I just memorized which variables needed to be private and the methods and so on.

So you're saying in studying for the test it would be better to implement my own Singleton Classes and truly understand it instead of just trying to brute force it?

I'm just trying to think of different attack angles here for this stuff

One of the greatest and an extremely rare ability in programmers is not giving up no matter what until you figure it out on your own and find the answer. If it takes you 3 hours then it takes 3 hours. If it takes 6 hours it takes 6 hours. If it takes 3 days then it takes 3 days. But you don't give up on it until you figure it out. This will do more for your programming ability than almost anything else...you will learn a lot about why things dont work and why they do. Just have to have dogged determination and take it as a personal challenge that you will win at all costs. Honestly you have to almost be obsessed with figuring it out. I'm STILL obsessed with it...I literally will spend however long i need to on an issue until I figure it out ...but its served me very well ovee the years and has taught me a LOT I would have never learned otherwise.

This is what happens in the real world. You will randomly have them come to you and say "we have this situation going on and need to fix it...what can you do for that?". And thats it. They tell you what problem is, you have to be able to figure out how to fix it. Now as a junior developer you will usually have your hand held at first by senior developer who will kind of spoon feed it to you so you have a very clear understanding of things, what the problem is and what the solution is. Once they trust you enough they will start giving you more and more to see how you do...if you want to progress you will have to start figuring those things out for yourself.

That first means you have to understand what the problem actually is. A lot of programmers spend a lot of time fixing the wrong problems. Then you have to understand how to fix it. This means you have to understand concepts because not knowing how/when to apply what you learned will have you looking at a problem and not knowing what to do. You will be in a position where you will not understand how these decisions affect other parts of the program, etc..basically you will be lost in the sauce and not know how things tie together.

This is why I am a huge proponent of building an entire application by yourself...it forces you to understand EVERYTHING and how all the parts and pieces fit together. This is somthing you will NOT learn in class and will NOT learn at most companies because you usually are working on other people's code and only on very small parts of it.

 

[nicksaiz65]

One of the greatest and an extremely rare ability in programmers is not giving up no matter what until you figure it out on your own and find the answer. If it takes you 3 hours then it takes 3 hours. If it takes 6 hours it takes 6 hours. If it takes 3 days then it takes 3 days. But you don't give up on it until you figure it out. This will do more for your programming ability than almost anything else...you will learn a lot about why things dont work and why they do. Just have to have dogged determination and take it as a personal challenge that you will win at all costs. Honestly you have to almost be obsessed with figuring it out. I'm STILL obsessed with it...I literally will spend however long i need to on an issue until I figure it out ...but its served me very well ovee the years and has taught me a LOT I would have never learned otherwise.

This is what happens in the real world. You will randomly have them come to you and say "we have this situation going on and need to fix it...what can you do for that?". And thats it. They tell you what problem is, you have to be able to figure out how to fix it. Now as a junior developer you will usually have your hand held at first by senior developer who will kind of spoon feed it to you so you have a very clear understanding of things, what the problem is and what the solution is. Once they trust you enough they will start giving you more and more to see how you do...if you want to progress you will have to start figuring those things out for yourself.

That first means you have to understand what the problem actually is. A lot of programmers spend a lot of time fixing the wrong problems. Then you have to understand how to fix it. This means you have to understand concepts because not knowing how/when to apply what you learned will have you looking at a problem and not knowing what to do. You will be in a position where you will not understand how these decisions affect other parts of the program, etc..basically you will be lost in the sauce and not know how things tie together.

This is why I am a huge proponent of building an entire application by yourself...it forces you to understand EVERYTHING and how all the parts and pieces fit together. This is somthing you will NOT learn in class and will NOT learn at most companies because you usually are working on other people's code and only on very small parts of it.

I’ll be looking forward to working on this synthesizer once school is out. Hopefully that’ll help me out with learning that skill. I’m sure it’s gonna be an absolute beast of a project, though.

School is definitely testing my determination with these programs lol.

Are you a proponent of writing out everything you want to do on paper or drawing a picture before you even write a single line of code? Someone told me to do that because if you don’t know what you’re trying to do, like you said, you’re sunk.

Also coding in small chunks. As in write a method and then test it with a small driver before you move on. Because if you try to run it all at once that’s just asking for several logic errors and like 200 syntax errors.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that I shouldn’t take these programming interviews lightly at all. Since I’ll be in school longer I’ll have more time to prepare. But a friend was telling me that they were asking himvery specific things like the difference between Inner Join and Outer Join in SQL. And this was for an internship, not a full time job. Which surprised me. Honestly, I think I’ve been taking this programming and succeeding in life stuff muuuuch too lightly.

 

[marmel75]

I’ll be looking forward to working on this synthesizer once school is out. Hopefully that’ll help me out with learning that skill. I’m sure it’s gonna be an absolute beast of a project, though.

School is definitely testing my determination with these programs lol.

Are you a proponent of writing out everything you want to do on paper or drawing a picture before you even write a single line of code? Someone told me to do that because if you don’t know what you’re trying to do, like you said, you’re sunk.

Also coding in small chunks. As in write a method and then test it with a small driver before you move on. Because if you try to run it all at once that’s just asking for several logic errors and like 200 syntax errors.

When you first start out, that's definitely a good idea. I still do that for complex things but dor simpler things I just kind of see it in my mind the way I want to develop it.

Yes, I test things frequently while I am coding, usually writing the tests, assertions, and exception handling as I go...I find its easier doing it that way than trying to write a whole buncj od code and then retroactively weiting the tests...because then you won't do it because it ends being a lot of extra code

 

[nicksaiz65]

Study Break and Breakthrough

I know it's extremely early but I'm studying right now and it's my break. So I wanted to post in here very briefly. Additionally, we got a 3 day extension on our first program in OOP Class. Thank the freaking Lord, now I can write it over the weekend and get it looked at on Monday or Tuesday. I need a 100 on this one if I expect to make a B in that class. No reason I shouldn't get one.

I just wanted to say that reading books, both the textbook and extra books that I can find on the subject has really helped out. I don't know why this is the first semester I thought to start doing this. Stupid. I'm not gonna lie to you guys, this is the first semester since my freshman year where I've actually understood what's going on in these classes instead of just bullshytting my way though.

The "For Dummies" and [x] Demystified Series are very good. They've definitely helped save my butt on some of these test this semester. A lot of the time, these school textbooks are less than worthless because they're so pretentious. I was doing my program today and this Java for Dummies 8 in 1 helped me out a ton with the logic and syntax errors.

I remember in the last semester when I took Foundations of CSC, I was bytching and complaining that there were zero resources on the internet for this class. Well I do a bit of digging(I'm gonna need to retake this class at some point) and what do I find? Hella books on the topic that actually make sense and even YouTube Videos. Turns out that I was just typing in the wrong stuff. The search term that I needed to type in was "Automata Theory." I even found Discrete Math stuff. Had I just dug a bit deeper maybe I wouldn't have made a C in there...

TL;DR: Books are amazing, the internet is amazing, it's gonna be the driving force that gets me through life because I'm fvcking clueless tbh. There's nothing in this world that I can't learn through a book or the internet

I have a lot more stuff that I want to talk to you guys about but I've got to get back to my study session. I just wanted to post this in here because I just realized how much of a major breakthrough this books stuff was as I was working today. Why the f*ck didn't I do this from the frigging beginning??????

 

[nicksaiz65]

Phone Upgrade; Alarm Clock

Also, fvck my stupid phone. It's so ridiculous. Having a phone in this condition is really making it hard for me to get my work done and succeed in life honestly. I've even been c*ckblocked by my own phone, believe it or not. Crazy.

So I'm gonna save my money(relatively) like AMS said and not splurge on anything expensive or get a super fancy phone. I don't need that. An iPhone 6 is totally fine for what I want to do. So I'm going to buy a refurbished iPhone 6 for $210. That'll be $230 with tax. With my gigs this weekend, I'll be able to pay for it. Then I'll swap the SIM cards and do a sync.

I know I said I was going to save money, but I really do need a phone that isn't retarded(it won't even charge above 10%) or I'm not gonna make it.

Another necessary purchase that I made was a Sonic Boom Alarm Clock. Those things are loud af. Half of the problem with my responsibility issues is that I sleep in so dang late. Not acceptable. So that'll be here on Monday. It'll give me more time to go to the gym and study because I'll be forced to get up earlier. Add time management, and coffee/energy drinks to the mix and I'm unstoppable.

Okay, last update for today. I just felt like talking to someone about this stuff. I'll let you all know how my quiz today and homework grades go later.

SIDENOTES;
I think a YouTube Red subscription might do me some good productivity-wise. If I could listen to dope mixes offline and not worry about Data, I'd be way more productive in life. Sometimes I wanna listen to stuff that's not necessarily on Apple Music, like hour long vaporwave mixes. Those help me cope with life and make me super productive.

And speaking of phones/texting... I'm freaking done texting these hoes essentially. I lost out on one of my big time crushes that I really should've fvcked because of overpursuing by text message. And I've noticed with the girls that it was going really well with, I was pretty much only texting them for logistics like with my old Tinder Date. So I'm pretty much just gonna do whatever AMS/Corey Wayne does with his texting. Hell on the dates too. Maybe flirting very slightly with the opening message. But yeah, just wanted to get that out too. Game increasing through experience.

As a testament to how shyt my phone is, I had it on the charger for an hour and it's still on 1%. Camera and microphone are broken too. How am I supposed to cope with the tedium of my day if I'm not listening to exciting music? Sheesh.

But anyways. Back to Calculus.