On TwentySomethings
I just finished reading Alex’s post thirtysomething on twentysomethings and it is definitely worth a read. He posted it in response to Emily Bazelon’s article on How twentysomethings are coping with the recession.
A lot of what he talks about resonates with me (besides the references to Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Contact, Reading Rainbow). Time is our most valuable asset. A lot of people go off to college (and even graduate) not knowing what they want to do. I consider myself lucky that I chose a career in computer engineering. While some of the “do what you love” mantra from those TV shows did sink into my head, what I “loved” also coincided with a career path that actually pays well.
But I also look out and see a lot of lost-and-searching types (sometimes when I look in the mirror, actually) who wonder if they made the right decision oh-so-many years ago. For every Greg Mortensen who has managed to find fulfillment in and succeed in following his passion for service to others, there are dozens of us who see our own survival and helping others as mutually-exclusive.
Side Note
I, like Alex, am also a thirtysomething. I, like Alex, attended the same midwestern university. We both have degrees in computer engineering. Alex and I work for the same multi-national corporation, in similar but distant cube-farms. We even enjoy a lot of the same activities – photography, ultimate, cycling, general geekiness. I don’t think we’ve ever actually met, but I think if we did the space-time continuum would fold over on itself like a Cirque de Soleil acrobat or there’d be some other sort of cosmic rift.
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