Currently, I am engaged in the field of network security, providing DDoS protection services to international clients to mitigate network attacks on their businesses. As for why I chose this profession in the first place, looking back now, there were some twists and turns.
My undergraduate major was Intelligent Science and Technology, at a second-tier university that wasn't very prestigious. Initially, this major was part of the Automation College, and we learned a lot about automation, including both hardware and software. This made it difficult for me to determine what exactly I was studying and what my main focus was. The only thing that really interested me was data structures and algorithms. Unfortunately, when we were in our fourth year, the school transferred our major to the Computer Science College, and the curriculum for the younger students was adjusted accordingly, which meant that what we learned was not part of the official syllabus.
Later on, I had some internal struggles that led me to decide to pursue a master's degree abroad. I experienced various failures in Japan, but eventually, my professor discovered me and took me in, and I began researching cryptography. Cryptography requires a higher level of algorithms and mathematics, and what gave me a headache was that I had to start learning discrete mathematics from scratch, including group theory, ring theory, and other things I had never encountered before. Perhaps it was through this experience in Japan that I realized that I had many possibilities and also had a strong ability to learn, which has been very helpful in my future work.
Due to the pandemic (which I will write about separately later), I initially entered a Sino-Japanese company in Beijing through the introduction of a senior student in Japan. I returned to China at the end of March and underwent a month-long quarantine in April. In May, I went to Beijing to participate in an internship. After entering the company, I found that the work there did not meet my expectations. I struggled with my thoughts for a few days, planning how to escape from there and start looking for another job. Unfortunately, an unfortunate event occurred - my grandmother passed away.
I booked a ticket overnight and took leave from the company the next day (it was already my fourth day of the internship) to immediately return home and handle the funeral arrangements with my family. I talked to my family about my work experience in Beijing, and they gave me some suggestions. That night, while chatting with my brother outside the door, he said to me, "Why don't you try Chengdu?" That's when I had a sudden realization and started sending my resume to companies in Chengdu. It was quite coincidental that the next morning, a company came looking for me (which is the company I am currently working for). I expressed my desire to complete the interview as soon as possible and start working as soon as possible, and since they were in urgent need of people, they immediately arranged the interview. After a week or so, I completed all the interview tasks, and the company offered me a job. At this point, I couldn't hide my intention to switch jobs from the company in Beijing anymore. I contacted the HR department, bought a ticket to return to Beijing, received four days' worth of internship salary, and immediately headed to Chengdu.
People hope to control their own lives, but there are many uncontrollable factors in work and life. We are all to some extent the result of the twists and turns of fate, but it is also the inevitability of history. Learn to reconcile with yourself, live seriously, eat well, and you will get what you want!