Opening a new chapter

Posted 3 years ago2021-04-16 09:47:15 UTC
Admer456 Admer456If it ain't broken, don't fox it!
If you don't wanna read through this whole thing, just scroll down until you see "The brick" heading.

Yesterday I had a Bosnian written schoolwork, where I had to write whatever about a chosen topic, whether it's an essay or a short story or whatever.

So, the topic was, "I'm opening a new chapter" and daaaaaaaamn I started thinking about it, inspiring me to write this journal today. Let's roll back the tape a lil bit!
Let's go to... 2017, one of my most memorable years, and the one I'm probably still stuck in.

The end of an era

29th of May 201729th of May 2017
I was right at the end of 9th grade. It was Monday. I think we went to that school a day or two more, before we were finally out of it. I remember being so clueless, yet determined to sign up for an engineering school in Mostar.

Being a kid from a village near Stolac, without ANY prior experience going to a city alone (always went with my parents, but only because they took me with them lol), I couldn't imagine going to the bus alone, and walking the streets alone, and EVERYTHING. It was terrifying to say the least. I grew up in a village without kids, so I had nobody to hang out with. I talked about this years and years ago, so I don't wanna repeat myself. TL;DR been very lonely for years and had absolutely no experience in social interactions, so I was very weird and embarrassing, until 8th grade at least.

Now, my parents wanted me to go to the local general high school, where I'd have all the same classes from elementary school, just in more detail. I didn't like Biology, Geography, Music class (for reasons you probably don't think of), and a couple of others. Chemistry and Physics were fine, but they felt like a chore at times, same goes for History.

And, truth be told, it would've been easier for me in the short run. Familiar place, familiar people, and it's right next to my elementary school, so it ain't any farther. Later on, I realised going to an engineering school in a whole other city was, in fact, the better choice.

New opportunities

Technical Drawing miseries, winter 2017Technical Drawing miseries, winter 2017
At first, I think I had some regrets. Particularly due to Technical Drawing which was insanely difficult to get a good grade in, due to my shaky hands and slightly bent fingers. Electrical Engineering was a pain too, because the teacher was old and very high-standard. Squeezed everything out of you in order to pass. If you got any higher grade, it was because of luck. Nonetheless, I consider myself lucky.

She did make me learn lessons from year 2, in order to improve my grade near the end of year 1. I remember that fairly well. She taught us about trigonometry and alternating currents, which I was lectured in May 2018 or so. When the new teacher came in year 2, he was shocked (no pun intended) that we knew about AC stuff already, at least I did.

And so we enter 2018...

Reaching for the skies

The "workshop" classroom 1The "workshop" classroom 1
That year, I participated in an IT competition, and I won 2nd place. I was still in year 1, so I was among the youngest participants. 1st place was won by a guy from my school, but in year 4. Afterwards, they decided to limit entrants only to students from year 1 and 2. So I could've participated in that next year too, right?

Well yeah, but I didn't. I had something entirely different to chase. As year 1 ended and year 2 began, I got Programming class, participated in a programming competition, won 1st place, yadda yadda. I feel like this is getting pretty long, so I'll just mention some key moments.

At some point, in year 2, I was the guy keeping the class from collapsing in terms of grades. We were doing CorelDraw stuff on IT class, and I helped out basically everyone sitting next to me. 2 guys on the left, 3 guys on the right. I got my own stuff done on time too!

In May 2019, I participated in a gamedev competition, winning 2nd place with my teammate.
I'm the guy in blue, pointing at "idTech 4"I'm the guy in blue, pointing at "idTech 4"
Good old times.

A slight change in trajectory

Year 3 was messed up, cuz' I got Democracy and Human Rights class, which sounded useful until I discovered that it's actually just a class where you recite the teacher's opinions, and memorise the definition of war crimes and different political/administrative organs/layers/institutions. Extremely boring. It's all theory and you have to memorise it word by word. I'm not that type of masochist.

Then COVID came along and prevented (I wouldn't say ruined) our plans for a school trip in year 4, as well as the prom and the graduation event, whatever it's called. I'm honestly glad I won't have any of that. No need to spend a grand on the school trip, no need to spend another on a fancy suit, hell yeah.

In the 2nd half of year 3, we only had online classes. It was easier to cheat, the tests were easier overall. Not that I cheated much. Either way, it wasn't too bad.

That same game development competition happened, but it was online, of course. However, the platform that they used (WebEx) was HORRIBLE for demonstrating your game. If it's online this year again, which is very likely, I'm not gonna participate. Can't complain tho', I won 3rd place and used a part of the prize money to get a microphone and double my RAM. Hell yeah!

Year 4 was interesting, because we got an alternating plan. One week you go to school, physically, the other week you go online. The cycle repeats. It's a huge risk for me since I go by bus, and about 1 in 10 passengers don't wear a mask. Oh well. :/

The brick

So, in year 4, we have to write a graduation thesis. We choose a topic and write about it, whether it's documentation of a project, or a research paper.

Since I was working on a game and an engine, I decided to write about the process of game development. I completed it recently, having written 48 pages within 3 or 4 days.
User posted image
I wrote the cover page in March.
"GRADUATION WORK - Video game design and development - Mostar, April 2021"

And THEN it hit me like a brick to the forehead. ADMER, YOU ARE ABOUT TO FINISH HIGH SCHOOL!
Believe me or not, I'd never thought about it until that moment. Has it really been 4 years since I finished elementary school? This is insane!

With that, I'm about to end this chapter. It's been super fun.

Opening a new chapter

This new chapter is gonna be very exciting as I, yet again, have a major choice to make, and a LOT of obstacles potentially. When I finished elementary school in 2017, I had to choose between the local gymnasium and the engineering school. It was a simple one.

Now I got some rather interesting choices. Once I finish high school, which is in about 2 weeks, I can do one of the following:
  • go to college
  • look for a job
  • rest for a year and then go to college
  • go to the army
  • work in the village
Realistically, the last 2 ain't happening, maaaybe the 2nd one either. Nonetheless, I'll try applying for a job at a couple of software companies here, because I believe I do have what it takes to enter. Then I'll go up from there. There are a couple of gamedev positions, so we'll see.

And if that doesn't work, I'll just go to college, no big deal. Ultimately, my goal is to register a company one day and sell games, which will need quite a bit of money to get started, which is why I want to go with a job first.

A couple of years ago, I used to imagine life in Germany, far away from my parents, working for some game company. Meh. I don't need that to live the way I want. Now I wanna stay with my parents cuz' it's cheaper and I'd save up a lot more money, and I'm definitely not moving out of this country.

We'll see what happens.

8 Comments

Commented 3 years ago2021-04-16 13:47:04 UTC Comment #103515
Not that I cheated much.
So... you cheated a bit? :)

Good luck with your graduation and job applications!
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-16 14:28:12 UTC Comment #103516
Yes, I cheated a tiny bit. :walter:
One morning, I had a test in Computer Architecture. I took out my phone and opened a PDF with some of the lessons we needed to learn, cuz' I was lazy and there were many lessons. The time limit was about 15 minutes, and there were 20 questions, and I managed to get about 90% lol.

I'm gonna have another test from the same subject in Monday, buuuuut I'm pretty sure I won't cheat on that one. It's gonna be easier and will have fewer lessons since this is pretty much the end of the school year.
Other than that, I got a German test, a Maths test, and a Databases test by the 26th of April. Then I'm finally a free bird, at least for a little while.
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-16 15:44:09 UTC Comment #103517
Strap yourself in, the most awesome part of your life (as of yet) is going to start!
Good luck with the finals and keep doing your best :cool:
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-17 21:42:01 UTC Comment #103526
Better start working on time :)
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-21 23:24:44 UTC Comment #103532
Good luck, mate. I'll see you on the far side. ;)
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-22 02:28:32 UTC Comment #103533
"A couple of years ago, I used to imagine life in Germany"

Ah yes, I remember the journal you posted on here about that a few years ago and how it got like over 100 comments. Good times!
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-22 10:20:43 UTC Comment #103534
I have finished my last high school exam. Just gotta finish a project for Entrepreneurship class and then I'm truly done.

My parents are against the idea of working for a couple of years and then going to college, and I understand why, so I'll try doing both.
I've discovered that, in the first 1 or 2 years in that college, they really just revise whatever I've had in high school. Basics of C++, basic IT theory, complex numbers and stuff in Maths, and some English stuff. If it turns out very easy, it might be more feasible to work and study at once.

So with that said, I figured I'll go to college for a couple of months to get used to that, then try finding a job and get used to that. If it works out, great! If it doesn't, I'll just keep going to college and see if I can get a job after it.
I don't care about social life, and I sleep in the bus, so it's gonna be exactly what I was used to.

Either way, I did some estimations and if we assume:
  • a stable job with a pay of 1000 KM per month (500€ per month, 6000€ per year),
  • that I'll live with my parents,
  • that my parents and I will be alive for the next 5 to 10 years,
then I will need to work for about 5 (+/- 20%) months in order to buy the things I need. Mainly some software licences, VSTs, electronics and hardware upgrades, basically.

Here's the plan if anyone's curious:
User posted image
The bus ticket price can be eliminated once I start driving, but considering the price of getting a driver's licence, I think the average is gonna be about the same, if not higher.

@NineTnine
Ah, good ol' times. Not so good now that I read through my old posts, but whatever. :P
Commented 3 years ago2021-04-28 02:28:23 UTC Comment #103545
"Not so good now that I read through my old posts"

Oh boy do I know that feeling haha!

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