“Sometimes the path to creation isn’t linear — it’s messy, uncertain, and beautifully human.”
I’m not the typical CS student story — and that’s kind of the point.
- I didn’t apply to 600 internships.
- I don’t have a 3.9 GPA (it’s a 3.55 right now as a senior).
- I don’t have a master’s degree in CS from a top school.
- I haven’t been programming for 10 years.
- I’ve barely done any open-source contributions.
- I’ve had zero SWE internships and no university research.
- My resume? Probably not reviewed by a dozen recruiters.
- I stopped doing LeetCode (you can probably guess why).
- And honestly… I’m a slow reader.
That’s why I go by LostCauseNeil — not because I’ve given up,
but because I’ve accepted that my path is different.
I don’t think coding is just about building apps —
it’s a way to understand systems, persistence, and creativity.
But I’ve realized something bigger:
I might not be meant to code for a living.
I’m one of those people destined to make money by mastering a craft —
whether that’s pool, ping-pong, music, or something artistic that flows.
Life isn’t short. You just have to do more of it.
Right now, my goal has shifted —
I want to become a professional pool player,
while creating music, learning to kite glide,
and one day, fly a plane or helicopter.
On the side, I’ll always keep building things that fascinate me.
I built RateMyMajor.com —
a full-fledged platform that helps students understand
what they’re really signing up for when they choose a major,
complete with ratings, insights, and roadmaps.
I watched 52 hours of YouTube tutorials
to teach myself TypeScript and Next.js
because college didn’t teach me how to build,
so I taught myself.
90% of my projects were built with the help of AI —
and I’m not ashamed of that.
AI was my teammate, my tutor, and my accelerator.
To the developers who grew up mastering Stack Overflow —
you’re the real ones.
You built your foundations the hard way,
and I truly admire that level of craftsmanship.
One day, I hope to code like you —
even if AI helped me get here faster.
It wouldn’t be a job title or a salary.
It’d be a mentor —
someone who could show me the nature of software development,
the beauty behind clean architecture,
and the thrill of building with others who care.
But that’s okay.
Because this is my story —
and it’s just getting started.
🧡 Honest self portrait.