I have no idea what I’m doing…and that’s fine, right?

Dante Welch
Jul 30, 2017 · 2 min read

Before I get into the meat of my first Medium article, or whatever they’re called, I want to give a little introduction to myself. I’m currently in the summer before my 3rd year of school at Grand Valley State University. For those of who who don’t know, GVSU is located about 20 minutes from Grand Rapids in West Michigan. I’m studying computer science, as will become pretty apparent by my articles, and let me just say, it’s really the only thing I’ve been genuinely passionate about in my short 19 years.

Now that you know a bit about me, let me share with you my biggest secret.

I have no idea what I’m doing.

I mean what I’m saying, too. This isn’t me grappling with Impostor Syndrome either, because I’ve done my fair share of that. For example, I’m a math tutor for my schools walk-in math tutoring center. We help for pretty much any math up to Multivariable Calculus. While I am by no means a master of Algebra and Calculus, I have enough of an understanding in the topic manner to effectively teach it to someone, so I can confidently say that I know what I’m doing in regard to that. Somebody suffering from Imposter Syndrome would look at the fact that they can teach other people effectively and still genuinely believe that they don’t understand the math, solely due to the fact that for some inherent reason, they aren’t good enough. I can be certain that doesn’t really apply to me.

With that, let’s rule out Imposter Syndrome.

When I say I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m referring to the fact that I don’t like to get too comfortable with what I’m working with. School is a great example of when this is forced on you. You’re taking 4 or 5 classes, each requiring you to learn a skill, and after 4 months, you restart this process. It seems that many people learn a particular set of skills and then get complacent. They can collect a paycheck from the skills they already have and that works perfectly fine for them.

Not for me.

My favorite feeling in the world is the infamous “aha” moment, and I can’t have those if I learn one thing and do that forever. So, at any given time, you can mind me “not having any idea what I’m doing” with a few different things. In the past it has been Raspberry Pi or making wood furniture. Right now it happens to be the concept of machine learning which, as I’m writing this, I really have no idea what I’m doing in regards to that. I’ll be writing about that soon, and you’ll really see how much I don’t know.

In summary, I’m always working on a skill I’m not great at for the sole purposing of getting better at it. My Medium page will generally serve to write about the new pieces of technology I’m delving into.

You should always have a piece of your daily life that you’re nearly clueless about, it’s more fun that way.

Dante Welch
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