This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by NKK
I was just doing my college assignments, bored out of my mind…same routine, same tired screen, drowsy eyes, and the same claustrophobic existentialism pressing down on me like a paperweight.
So I thought, “Hey…doesn’t matter if I deserve it or not but I definitely need a break , or I’m going to fall asleep with my eyes open”. Yup …I’m crazy enough to give unsolicited advice to myself.
I opened up my dusty, months-old to-do list and randomly picked HackTheBox and TryHackMe as today’s “productive” distractions. Without expecting much I opened it and started off with a few tiers.
But somehow boom…. TWO whole hours vanished.
I didn’t even notice how focused I’d gotten. Me– the same person who can’t sit through a 1 hr COA lecture without zoning out every 10 mins…was completely locked in.
My brain’s usually a mess…like a clogged sieve that leaks information without warnings. I forget things really fast, so I opened up Obsidian and documented the entire process- every command, every mistake and every “what the hell is this error?”.
I wasn’t doing anything amazing– just copying what the Write-Up manuals said. But it felt good…like I was finally learning something interesting and fun.
Eventually, I paused HTB for the day and stepped out for some hot chai (Side note: highly do not recommend getting the ginger chai from Taaza– just trust me). Later, on impulse, I decided to try applying what I’d just learned. I’ve got two laptops…one with Windows 11, one with Ubuntu dual-boot. (Why two laptops is a chaotic+ regretful story for another day…trust me ..I’m not here to brag).
Then I had a sudden thought: I wanted to see if I could access a file stored on Laptop1 from Laptop2 with just the IP-info. I mean…why not try? So I created a folder on my Windows laptop. Dropped a flag.txt into it. Then I installed smbclient on the Ubuntu laptop. Punched in the IP, Username, Password, tweaked some sharing settings, disabled a few firewall rules….
…and it worked.
I had broken into my own laptop….with the info that I had already known…which sounds kind of lame, but after a whole weekend of soul-numbing assignments…it made me feel lighter.
Honestly? I don’t think I’m smart enough for cybersecurity. The field is massive, competitive, and intense. I get overwhelmed, I overthink and I feel dumb a lot of the time. But I’m curious. Like painfully, irrationally curious. I always had a thing for puzzles, case solving, and cracking codes– even though I kind of suck at them.
Trial, error and chaos are basically my learning style especially when I actually like what I’m learning.
My weekends are chaotic and stressful….but something lit up my brain for the first time in ages today….kind of like when I convinced my parents to buy me a keyboard after playing a painfully bad version of Tum Hi Ho on it. (Yeah…I eventually lost interest after a few months but I still remember those happy hours practicing for hours and how I used to annoy my brother with my tone-deaf singing.)
Anyways…back to the point.
No plans, no big declarations. Just me, my chaotic brain, tight weekends where I’ll probably spend most time doing this rather than completing the shit-ton of assignments given by Profs, and this strange new spark for cybersecurity.
If nothing else, at least now I have something to fill my breaks…a little portal into a world I actually want to explore….not to prove anything to anyone but just enjoy it.
I know this was a really long, unfiltered brain dump. Not really sure why I’m even posting it here..I guess I just wanted to share my thoughts or find people who can relate to such craziness. No clue if this is even the right place for such stream-of-thoughts, but hey, if you’ve read this far…well…thanks?…Also, you probably should get some sleep.
Good night, and in case I don’t post again sooner: good morning, good afternoon and good evening!
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by NKK