From my first video game I played to my deep dabbles into programming to then building games and their systems throughout college, I recognize that I am a curious and intricate worker who deciphers how and why a certain feature works. I find it most satisfying and enlightening to dissect a software product for their condensed and organized parts, whether it’s the web or app interface, the inner layer algorithm in current AI, or the simple object memory handling, behavior, and collision of hitboxes, enemies, and environments of a game. With more experience, I realize that this meticulous and curious attitude can transcend me further from just a tinkerer. One activity I love is designing around the consumer’s and developer’s experience of making extensions, modifications, and applications. Whether it’s for testing experimental features during an iterative development cycle, creating back-end systems for finer features, or even promoting open-sourcing, building the modular building blocks feels satisfying when they seamlessly cooperate for cleaner utilization, iteration, and experimentation. Another favorite activity is reducing tedium of customer and developer tasks via automated calculations and accessible interfaces. There are several calculative and informational tasks on a computer either too complicated or too large for humans to quickly and accurately perform, so I strive to make such tasks more intuitive and applicable to use, whether through utility algorithms or a refined user interface. And one more task is, of course, the obligatory performance enhancement and stability. No one wants a product that takes unnecessarily long or can fail randomly. I am well aware of the many obstacles and grievances software engineering can prompt. I know from experience that I need to efficiently present designs to both co-workers and customers, I know from experience of the many potential unexpected bugs that can take several days to even address, and I certainly know from experience the need to learn complicated mathematical concepts for menial and revolutionary goals. But one thing I learned from any task is that I don’t see these obstacles as burdens from my enticing paycheck but as inspiring opportunities to learn something new or demonstrate what I can do. Regardless of if I make a well-polished piece of software or tools seamlessly or end up wasting several hours just to take a single step, I know that I grow sooner or later.