Academics
Finished the microprocessors assignment. Was not able to finish it by the deadline but got my first ever Assembly code working!!! Submitted just that. Anyways that course is very enjoyable so no worries. Sometimes, I feel even if I work hard for something and fully enjoy doing it, I still don't get the expected results and instead lose out more on it. This was a matter of extreme worry for me. But now I've come to realize that its OK to feel that way. No one has it all figured out. This stems from the fact that I compare myself way too much with others, which can be both good and bad depending on how healthy that competition is. I don't know what else to do other than to just keep going and keep studying. I've already faced this situation many times before, during JEE prep, and I still don't know how to deal with it. I cried then. Felt like I lost a battle. But now I won't cry. I'll just keep going. Because I know now that my self-worth is not defined by grades. Let me say it again. My self- worth has no connection, whatsoever with a number that got decided by an assignment. That's it. I have many more things that make me the person that I am and I'm sure grades are not in that list. The more I realize this and internalize it, I've noticed, the more I feel at peace with myself and the more I'm enjoying studying. I'm rediscovering that lost enthusiasm that I had in school to study and explore and learn something new all the time. I don't say I hated studying while preparing for JEE. I loved it then too. But by the end of JEE, I got so fed up and tired that I needed a LONG break, which never happened when I was in school. Right now, while studying at college, I feel I'm reconnecting to that interest and curiosity I had back then and I love this feeling!!!!!
Joined Indie Hackers
Yesterday was finally the day when I stopped overthinking about building in public. I just went ahead, made an account on Indie Hackers and created my first post there titled "Joined Indie hackers". Don't know why it was the most popular post at least yesterday. Anyways, I also put together a bare bones landing page for the product that I'm building and made it live. I didn't make all this public. I'll talk more about it after I get a basic version of the application up and running, which will be done, I think in a week or so. Until then I'll just keep reporting my progress on Indie hackers and keep getting feedback from a few selected people. I guess this has to be the path that I want to go in. Maybe when I release the basic version, that time I'll focus more on adding in new features and marketing it more.
Ethical hacking
I feel pulled towards ethical hacking these days. Haha!! that was cheesy. But this feeling is real. It led me to install Kali Linux as a Virtual Machine yesterday and I started learning it. Learnt that there's an EXPENSIVE exam called OSCP that ethical hackers give to get certified. Not that I'm learning to give that exam but it might still be something that I might try if in case I become more interested in Ethical hacking.