I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2009. After that I immediately started working as a Software Engineer. I moved to Nigeria in 2010 and work there. Next to Kingdom of Bahrain in 2011 to try my luck. I notice a pattern that will decide my next years of my life. Even though you are good at work, they will still treat you as an ordinary worker. Well, because technically a bachelor’s degree is an undergraduate. You can land a job but it’s all you can get from it.

I return to the Philippines and take my Master of Science in Engineering in 2016. It’s difficult because I am still working in a corporate and to be honest, I’m just there for the title. I’m rocking my job as a Software Engineer. Finishing projects like Pac-man on a killing spree. Learning new programming language one after another depending on the project’s demand. I am on top of my game, so in my mind before is what else can I learn from school?

Going back to school after having 6 years in the industry is like going back to the playground. The swing is there and you remember how fun you have when you are a kid but you can only do is hold the chain and do not want to sit on it.
The monkey bars are there that made your arm strong and build your confidence on your body to learn other stuff like cycling and basketball. But all you do is look at it and sigh.

Then the meet and greet. Everybody is arrogant jerk and try to undermine you by comparing their career against each other like it’s the only thing that matters. People work for the government always feel special. People work in academe in different Universities finishing their master’s degree feels superior in every way and professors favor them in all the way. If you introduce yourself, you need to say after your name if you are Academe or Industry. People will always ask it if you do not say it. Well, it’s high school all over again. A division which is laughable because we are professional adult people that is part of the human civilization as a mere fuel.

I downplay everybody and do not care at all. I do not even mention what I do at work, I just say we repair pc and television, and they give me that you are a looser stare.

The course is a mixed bag. The math subjects are nightmare like Freddie who just won't die. I almost fail on Numerical Methods. I even have one argument on the professor which is the head of Structural Engineering Department. I said he should be forgiving since what I learn is irrelevant to my work and major. He replied that it’s just I have not enough understanding and give me with the lowest possible grade. The black board looks like in Pacific Rim trying to compute how many Kaiju will pop up within the time frame. I learned later that it was used to predict weather paths. The irony when it hits you. There was even a formula on last part that looks like the secret to the universe and you do not want to look at it because your eyes will melt.

The electronics are fun for me. I remember why I took this course in college in the first place. I like building stuff, the feeling when you make something work out of a few parts, trial and error, and experiments.

The weird part for me is a lot of reporting and presenting on front. I do not understand the purpose of learning from somebody who is not authorized, specially if they will just play Linus Tech Tips in a projector and you pay for that course.

I finished and get my degree in 2019. We are only two who graduated that day. My major is Computer Engineering, and the other guy is Structural Engineering.

What the master’s degree have thought me?

It teaches me to learn difficult new things that may not benefit immediately. I still learning higher level of Calculus up to do this day and try to solve problems and I still do not know what’s purpose. I think it is hauntingly beautiful.

The reporting trained me to present more comfortable in front of our client. I am now always part of the team when doing a presentation since I understand more the system as a developer compare to the marketing team and I can present clearly and easily understood.

Well, it teaches me to be humble. I can not finish without the help of four professor. Their guidance help so I can make it through. Maybe this is a cliché but the research is a nightmare.

Being humble opens a lot of opportunity. People are willing to help even you did not ask. You will have less enemies. Being in the competitive industry transform you into a despicable person and getting my humility back is I will always be thankful.

Be humble in either good or bad situations.

Hanging my diploma on the wall, I ask my self if did I learn something?

Maybe.

But it’s not what I expected, and it is worth it.