I have finished the race…

shikungigi

Remember my last post? I was seated in my campus room writing about how my coding project seemed like it would never end. Well, here I am, at home this time, with my project handed in a week ago. I fought the good fight, I have finished the race…This is the sequel.

The program has its logical bugs but that is expected of any version 1.0, even Microsoft updates its software all the time because of bugs or some security vulnerability. In short, I have finished that part of the race. Though it is not the end of my studies (far from it), it is one step closer to achieving my long term goals.

On Sunday, our dear reverend talked about completing tasks and how important it is to have support from others. He gave an example of Naaman. The guy’s leprosy was healed simply because different people from different backgrounds and in different capacities helped him.

The dude was great, “a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded” (2 Kings 5:5) but he could not find Elisha on his own, as mighty a soldier as he was. First, it took a mere servant girl in his house to tell his wife about Elisha. Then Naaman had to seek assistance from his king who in turn sent him to the king of Israel. Eventually, Elisha helped him out. Furthermore, this was only after Naaman’s servants convinced him to do as he was told by the prophet. If it were not for them, his haughty self could have headed back to Damascus rather than wash in the waters of the Jordan River.

The whole time I was working on my project, a lot of people helped me, whether directly or indirectly. There was the supervisor who set me on the right track in terms of algorithms and understanding what exactly I was to do with the binary search tree data structure. There were my fellow students who were sailing in the same boat, wondering how the theory we were taught in third year was supposed to be transformed into running software. We encouraged each other all the way. In fact, several lines of my code were the brainchild of a fellow IT student who I never could have even thought would have helped me. (Yeah, I had that Naaman syndrome too, I have to admit.)

There was Google and Stack Overflow, awesome websites these ones. I don’t know where I would be without them. Half my project time was spent on them, looking for answers. Truth be told, they do not have all of them but they help you figure them out your own.

I cannot forget my parents. Mum would even ask what I was up to even though she has no clue what programming is all about. My folks will help me do anything I want to do (so long as it’s sane). I hope I got those genes mixed up nicely in me.

Those who gave me indirect help are numerous. From the system administrator who ensured I had Wi-Fi (however unstable it was) to the friends who encouraged me, I appreciate them all. I have finished that part of the race and I am not going back. The task is complete. I thank you all for the help. I hope I helped you in some way too.

I am on my internship now and I have to do a lot of hardware troubleshooting that I have never done before. It’s surprisingly fun. What I am not used to is the early rising and getting home late. But I will finish this one too and come out with a wealth of experience and ability to appreciate everyone for making a difference in my life.

Support someone today. Help them help you and together, finish the race.

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