An Electronics Engineer or a Software Engineer?

I always wanted to be an engineer….a “computer engineer”. I was fascinated by the computer, the way it works, how we can do so many amazing things with it. I used to envy my cousin brother who knew everything there was to know (at least that’s what I thought) about computers. So I sought the path of engineering hoping to know all about computers!! But as luck would have it I couldn’t get into computer engineering. My marks in the common entrance test made sure of this. Instead I got into electronics. Initially, I was really disappointed. But eventually I began to like the idea of becoming an electronics engineer. We studied about transistors, diodes, LED’s, semiconductors, resistors, capacitors and what not. My friends in computer engineering told me how they slogged to write programs. Each application is backed with pages and pages of program codes. And I felt relieved that somehow I was put in the right place. I would have never been able to take interest in programming. It’s too much logic. It’s not like I enjoyed every bit of the electronics part. There are too many electronic components and to have all of them thrown at you at once, it just becomes overwhelming! However I did accomplish a few things in the 3 yrs and 7 semesters of engineering (one more semester still to go). We made a robot, we built a light sensitive alarm an automatic muting circuit for a television and now we are working on the big thing, our final project, it’s a moving message display!! I know these are very small accomplishments considering what most electronics engineers do but they are special to me. Each of them have been a great learning experience for me and have created loads of memories with my friends. Just the lighting up of an LED could generate squeals of glee from all of us. 

So after all these years of being happy for not doing programming and cribbing for the overwhelming amount of electronic components I have now been placed at INFOSYS, a software MNC through campus recruitment. Guess it all comes back now to where it started!! Infosys training begins somewhere in the month of June and they’ll be training us in PROGRAMMING!! If you think am moaning about it, you’re wrong, I am actually very excited!! I am really eager to wade into this new territory. There’s no chance am going to miss an opportunity to be an employee of one of our countries top software companies.  Maybe just like it did with electronics, I might really like programming eventually. Who knows I might even get better at it than what I did in electronics. Life always keeps throwing these unexpected things at us, you never get what you expected. I am just learning to appreciate whatever it gives me and am sure it’s always for the good!! So what am I gonna be now? An electronics engineer or a software engineer??  Its too soon to ask this question. I am sure life will answer it for me!!