| I became a coder because I find it useful, valuable, and creatively stimulating. The only time I really enjoy coding, in the sense that 12 hours can pass by in the blink of an eye, is when I'm working on my own things. So by the time I'm done working for ~8 hours a day I'm bursting with excitement for when I get to fire up my development VM and code for another 6 hours. I get excited learning new things about my field. I get excited encountering and solving new problems. I get excited when I am able to form connections between isolated domains of knowledge and create work that is more valuable than the time I spent on it. Programming is engineering, but it is also art. I am an engineer, but I am also an artist. I live to create; writing useful applications, making video games and writing music are all ways I do this. My career path has and will continue to be a reflection of these values. I understand if some people chose to become programmers just for the money. I hope you are at least treating my field with respect and not just getting by with minimal effort while eroding employer/employee trust and dragging down the median salary. But consider that you could be making money in a field you are truly passionate about, blurring the lines between what is "work" and what is a "personal project". This is what it means to become successful in life, not wads of cash. |