Introduction #

I’m about to finish my bachelor’s degree in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in the next two months. The past few months have been a rollercoaster—ranging from regretting the value of my degree to considering a complete career shift.

This blog is my reflection on that journey and a breakdown of what comes next.

Let’s talk about my degree disappointment. #

I originally pursued this degree with the hope of becoming a robotics software engineer. Unfortunately, the reality didn’t match my expectations. Many modules suffered from poor instruction, lack of guidance, and an incoherent syllabus. As a result, I didn’t gain the solid foundation needed to become a job-ready robotics engineer.

On the bright side, a few AI and data-related modules—mostly offered by other departments—were useful. While theory-heavy and lacking in hands-on practice, they still helped me understand the broader landscape of Artificial Intelligence.

Because the university fell short in teaching practical skills, I turned to external resources like Udacity, Skooldio, and Coursera. I poured my energy into self-study and eventually asked my cooperative education supervisors to let me focus solely on software development, with only a bit of machine learning work.

That’s when I realized that computer science, software engineering, or general software development could be another viable path. But one big question remained: how could I compete with students who had actually studied those subjects? After all, my degree included just one computer programming module. And when it comes to robotics, how can I compete with graduates from better universities?

Passion is not working in this cruel world. #

Even though I have much passion for the robotics field, the only thing I can offer to the world (I mean the employees) is software development. I have two choices to decide.

1. Take a degree in what I have a passion for (MSc robotics), even if It is my weakness. I cannot guarantee on this choice that improving my weakness gonna get me a job. Still, it’s definitely fulfilling my lack of passion.

2. Take a degree in what I am already good at (MSc computer science/software development) and progress to become great. I had made money from taking a part-time freelance as a front-end developer. My supervisors at cooperative study wanted me to join his team as a software developer.

Passion is not from what you want to do (What can the world do for me); it is from your mastery (what you can do and offer to the world).

I can’t take any more of a lost year of creating a new skill. I would instead strengthen my already existing skill.

Finally, I decided to prepare myself for the software development field by pursuing the MSc in Software development/Computer science. This type of MSc is a conversion program that takes people not studying computer science to become job-ready (?) software developers. (Sound like a premium Bootcamp). And It’s easy to change into the robotics field later. At least I can get money from this choice

You may have a question about why I don’t become a self-taught developer and get a job?

This can simply be answered as I already had a plan to take MSc 5 years ago (Sponsored by my parent). It’s not just pop up at the end of my BSc. The thing that I have to decide is what to study for.

Since I have this unfair advantage to get another degree, there is no reason why I have to become a self-taught developer? Easy right.

Real-world lesson #

Yes, it sounds like MSc solved everything, but my family’s money on BSc was gone. And I have to plus the loss with Msc tuition fee. If I knew that I would end up like this, I would pursue another Bsc degree from other schools and save over a million Thai baht.

All I can feel right now is I’m just regretting it.

But the regretting thing that happened is not making me advanced. This BSc would be my best decision at that time. No one can predict the future. I learned that the university would not take responsibility for this; it is still my responsibility to take their result and move on. No matter many I regret, the university is still the same;

Also, I can’t expect much about my upcoming MSc; it may be like my BSc, and everything outside my control is unreliable. All I can do is rely only on myself, become self-learning, improve myself, and don’t give any second to give a *** about it.

Wrapping up #

I hope all the readers do not get a terrible Bsc experience like me. If that happens to you, trust me to take it as your responsibility and create a solid plan for yourself.

Thanks for reading until this.