My best friend doesn't understand me at all (I agree with him when he says I'm weirder and geekier after every term) and I don't want to tell my housemates because they'll take from what I don't really want them to; I just want to harp on about how fantastic life is at the moment, really.

For those of you who don't know (or are new), I'm currently halfway through my Computer Science degree at a University in England. My god, halfway through... gah, I feel old.

Last year was a bit pants - it was basically A-Level. I've already got an A-Level in Computing (a nice solid A, dont'cha know - I was the best in college! ), so I didn't particularly want to do it again. But I did. Plus some new things, which were alright.

This year is a lot more interesting - the range of learning is much greater, and we've learnt new languages. The workload is a bitch - I spent the second half of last term shut up in my room working, and I didn't sleep for the first five days of the first week of this term. Should have done the work before the deadline I suppose, but building a completely working system in 60 hours over five days and getting a very good mark from it (76% - a solid first, and only 8% behind the top of the class. Score!) ain't bad.

But that's now what makes me love my course. Heavens no. If I got a hard-on for every good mark, I'd have my own permanent coathook. It's being able to read about the latest technological advances and know what's going on. It's being able to read about Google's search algorithm and actually understanding how they do it, and laughing at the walls they came up against; "mike siwek lawyer mi" is absolutely amazing!

What I really enjoy is the people who ask you for help. Now, some of them are just spongers. I never ask for payment. Never. I have a skill that some people find useful, so I make use of it. Having said that, if I don't get anything back, then I just send them elsewhere next time they ask me for a favour.

The really great bit about the people who ask you for help is meeting the people and making friends.

No, that's a lie. I tolerate most of them, because I get something back (free drinks for a week or so if I see them in the bar, or bags of Crunchies - shit me, I love Crunchies!). A few of them are friends already, and I enjoy conversing as I turn off underline in Word, or reset their router. But that's not what I love about being a CompSci.

It's that girl you see around College. That girl that you get talking to because you're both in the same band. That girl who learns you're a whizz with computers. That girl who takes you aside and asks, slightly embarrassed, for help with a program. That girl you stay up a few hours longer for, trying to find answers for. That girl you e-mail in the early hours of the morning, triumphant! That girl who stops you in the street the next day and positively gushes with thanks.

Yes, she's cute. No, she's not another Corridor Girl. Yes, I definitely would. No, she's the year above, but we graduate at the same time because she's on a four year degree. Nope - not even over my dead body. Names are private, pictures even more so.

I've made so many mistakes in the past... gods, half of them I documented on these boards, ignoring any and all advice. The same here would be terrible... but I digress.

I love being a Computer Scientist. I love the sheer speed of the industry and the breakthroughs. I love the things that can be done with raw code. I love being stopped in the bar and the street by a cute girl because I can help and, indeed, did.

I haven't smiled from pure joy like I did yesterday for years. I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt so happy, the last time I felt so good about myself.

I implore all of you to take up a skill that benefits others - plumbing, carpentry, accounting, whatever; mine is Computers. The joy you might get from it is unparalleled!

Becoming a CompSci was one of the best choices I've made in life. Yes, the hours can be shit. Yes, some of the lectures can be boring. Yes, I do feel used by some people. Yes, my activity has dropped and the days of 100% are far behind me but, in the midst of it all... well, I've got a new task on my Google Tasks list - a program she uses keeps giving her error messages, can I give it a look?