I don’t really “feel” 24 years old. Somehow that seems like a surprisingly large number.
I’m not really sure what I thought I’d accomplish by this age, back when I was like 18 or so. I’ve probably succeeded in most of my “big goal” stuff though:
- Got my degree – oh how far away that seemed, 6 years ago, when I was just getting into my very first semester, and the initial thrill of campus began to wear off, and the reality of life in first-year engineering began to set in. 8am statics lectures with (now retired) Dr. Brown, who remains one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had, even though his class was a necessary wake-up call regarding the effort required in engg vs. high school.
- Got a good job – sometimes I really stop and think about how sweet my job is. Here I am, software developer, working from home. That’s the freakin’ dream. I realize I don’t work for Google or something, but really, I’m getting a great chance to learn, and I’m entrusted with an at-times-shockingly-large amount of responsibility, considering my experience. I’m the lead developer (ok, often the only developer, but still!) on multiple projects of significant importance – my apps need to work, or bad things happen. Sure, if I didn’t do it, somebody else would, but everybody in my group is swamped with their own projects, so they need me to take care of my stuff. I like to think I’m getting pretty good at it – meeting with people, figuring out what they need, and delivering on that.
- Move out – ok, ok, so I moved out, came back, moved out, came back again, and moving out again as soon as homeland security lets me. Overall though I’ve spent well over 2 years away from home, as a working professional, in cities other than my hometown, so I think that counts for something.
Ok that’s a pretty short list, but I’m not really sure what else I’d hoped to have done in 6 years. I maybe thought I’d get a Master’s degree right away (and thus be done that by now), but I’m glad I didn’t. In my profession, industry experience is more valuable in many ways, or at least the balance between industry and academia needs to be there, as formal methods proves :P
Overall though, “success” is an arbitrary measure – I definitely could have done more with my life thus far, and sometimes regret that I haven’t; I worry that I didn’t do things well enough. But really, there’s nothing I can change about that now, I can only look forward. And hey, the future looks pretty good.
And not just because I’ve accomplished things I set out to do, and because I see a lot of opportunity for myself in the years ahead. I’m legitimately happy, like really amazingly happy, and that is what really brightens my future – and each day.
