Success

Now that I've officiall signed the offer letter (and the NDA and a bunch of other documents), I can feel free to talk about my new job. My new career-home is with Advanti Solutions, a small-but-very-successful database consulting firm in Boston, MA. Since I joined Omgeo 3 years ago, I've been steadily working toward a career involving databases. This new job is extremely special - not only will I be doing database development/database administration work, it will be in the form of consulting for financial services companies helping them make their databases and data management systems better. What that means? I'm the expert. I tell people how to do things the right way. Well, Advanti will obviously have to train me first a little, but I was extremely fortunate to learn so much so quickly while at Omgeo.

I really can't say enough about how lucky I am to have a job like this one. Consulting is an extremely desirable field, and being so young and yet in such a senior position, making more money than anyone really has a right to make fresh out of college, is remarkable. It makes me feel really successful to have had job offers to choose between and to have intentionally picked this one for what I thought it could offer me and vice-versa. Yes, I am bragging a little. But, it makes me feel as though my choices in college (which I have regretted for some time) might not have been so terrible after all. I certainly could've minimised their damage, minimised my debts, etc., but having secured the life I have now, I worry less and feel like I can handle the responisiblities I took on all those years ago.

Right now, I have a college degree, a job I love, an apartment I love, two cats I love and a boyfriend I love (who just secured his own job for after he graduates in a week). Ben and I are lucky to both have the success we've been having lately. We are in a position now to have and do a lot more than many other people in the world are able, and it's important that we realise that and appreciate it.

I have a lot of friends who have graduated recently or are graduating soon. I've seen them all go down different paths; some are looking for jobs out of college, some are continuing to graduate school, specialised programs or study-abroad programs, some are married, some have kids, some never went to college at all and have been living 'real' lives since right out of high school, some are professional dancers, singers or actors, the list goes on and on. I've often regretted not doing some things differently, but I can honestly say I wouldn't want to be anyone other than me right now. I have myself all lined up to do exactly what I've always planned to do: have an extremely successful career, travel, do non-profit work, write and read more in my free time, and otherwise continue to expand the breadth of my knowledge.