New Appreciation (Some side notes and spoilers about the drama Start-Up/Sandbox)

I have just finished the highly raved weekend drama Start-Up a few days ago. So, I'll take this time to jot down some of the thoughts that appeared while watching it before I forget everything. 

In the period when I was following the drama, I was also in the midst of learning the basics of VBA (Visual Basic for Application) in Excel and completing a required project to finish the module. Having these two done in parallel made me feel things. While I understand that what I do on Excel is nothing compared to what computer engineers do for a living, it made me have some kind of new appreciation for them. As end-users, what the engineers make life so much easier and maybe to us it look like they are just typing a bunch of random words. But really, it is not that simple. In the short time I learnt and did my project, I was faced with multiple hurdles: different order of codes made the whole app crash, a shift in one cell caused errors, even changing the window size stopped the code from working! If I - someone who pretty much only did the basics - got this much challenges, I can't even imagine the kind of errors true-blue coders might encounter. And they have to comb through hundreds if not thousands of lines of codes just to find that maybe a single typo is the culprit of all the chaos! 

Sure, the job may not be as glamorous as what Chulsan portrays after 2Sto. It probably involves more hair-tousling, hoodies, and energy drinks. Then again, they do make the world a better place one step at a time. I'm also pretty sure when they get to see the finished product up and running. The satisfaction and relief may as well equal to when Samsan Tech won over Injae Company on Demo day, or maybe when the Samsan guys successfully cracked the ransomware attacking Cheongmyeong Company. I mean, even I was very happy when I finally finished my simple project!

Was it episode 13 when they cracked the ransomware problem? At that point, everyone was exhausted and about to pass out. Dalmi, as she should, thanked Dosan profusely for practically saving her company from downfall. Instead, Dosan said he was the one thankful because it has been a while since he could feel that kind of thrill. What he said resonated with me. I still can't do more complicated on VBA, but the fact that I can make a project out of the little knowledge I had made me feel more alive. Since March this year, I've been doing pretty much the same thing every day. Having the opportunity to do something out of my routine liberated me in some ways. And for that, I am very thankful. 

So, that's all from me. I truly enjoyed the drama, I just wanted a better ending for the "good boy" #TeamHanJipyeong. Also, to all computer engineers out there, stay awesome!