If you think that's bad, try being 18 :) this field may not exist (at least in its present form) by the time I'm out of uni (I'm planning to hedge my bets by studying physics), and it seems the world is getting less stable by the minute. There seems to be no sense of urgency or even medium-term thinking in stopping Putin, and Article 5 appears to be becoming less sacrosanct by the minute. Society is increasingly divided, with absolutely no attempt to find common ground (particularly evident in my demographic) and the majority of my generation having a miniscule (and shrinking) attention span through their direct stream of Chinese propaganda. And, of course, the climate-shaped elephant in the room.

I'm just trying to not let it get in the way of appreciating the world. I'm planning to travel to mainland Europe sometime next year (gap year). SpaceX has reignited spaceflight, and there's so much cool stuff going on in that space. Science marches on, with a steady stream of interesting discoveries.

And programming is great - for now. It feels slightly strange spending a week writing a project that may be finished with a single prompt in a few year's time, but it's enjoyable.

Maybe I'm overreacting? I've grown up in a pretty calm period, with the west in a clearly dominant position. Maybe this is, paradoxically, a return to normality?