I work as a programmer which has its ups and downs. A lot of the days feel like you are attempting to solve complicated puzzles where you are given software specifications or problems and you have to figure out how to make something happen. The good days are the ones where you are able to get something working properly and there's a huge sense of accomplishment. The bad days are when something isn't working the way that you want and you are pounding your head in frustration trying to figure out why.

Probably my worst day at work was when I went in for my first day of my new job and had a major setback. I came in having aced an interview weeks before and I was excited to start working. I met with my first client and she wasn't happy with my experience level. I was honest telling her that this was my first job. That evening I received a call from my boss telling me that the client wasn't happy having someone that fresh on the project and I was taken off of it. It was a pretty crummy feeling. Even worse was having to go back to tell my friends and family who were checking up on how my first day of work went that it didn't go well. I was forced to wait several months before I would get assigned to a new client.

Conversely my best day at work was finally being assigned to a new client months later and given something new to solve. I was really nervous about losing another opportunity and I wasn't confident that I would be able to get the piece of code assigned to me working. Luckily I was able to figure it out and solve the problem before the day was up. It was a huge confidence booster and made me feel a lot better about my job restoring some of the excitement about being a programmer that I had lost after a rough start.