Aga Aquino

So I passed week one of CS50 today, that means I am a few weeks away from certification and just a few steps from reaching my dream to work in tech. But if you dear reader have read my blog from last year, I actually started CS50 this time last year and never got around to finishing the entrance exam. This just led to more procrastination and 1 year passed without any progress whatsoever.

But this year is another chance to try again, and I think I left the gate running. I am free from my old job, I’m working fully independently and thus if my year was an ARPG dungeon, my affixes would be:

• +100% Time
• -90% Income

But that’s fine, because if there is one thing I learned last year, it’s that money is easy to come by. There will be countless opportunities to earn money, but the time spent on myself and my happiness is rare.

So what have I done with my new found freedom? I finished week 1 of CS50, and if I manage to complete the final project, I can say I have a Harvard certification. But that is thinking way too far ahead though.

I recently came across a speech by an Australian comedian, Tim Minchin to graduates in his alma mater. The one point that struck me the most was: Don’t pursue your dreams, instead commit to collection of many small victories.

That is not verbatim, but the message is clear. I feel like the reason my life has gotten nowhere close is because I have been looking too far ahead that I miss the road in front of me. And this just brought me anxiety in life as I ponder if I’m doing anything right. I get caught up in the now but my focus is on tomorrow and I just end up stumbling trying to make sense of my goals.

So one of the commitments I have this year is to achieve many small feats, as much as I can that will work towards the bigger goal. Of course I’m not ignoring the big dreams, but instead of focusing on the big picture, I’m giving my energies to the small tasks that would build up to it.

Finishing week 1 of CS50 is just one thing, but week 2 is another animal all together. Because it will have its own challenges that I need to work on, but week 2 of the new year also presents new challenges that I am as of this moment looking forward to conquer.