The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5)

You and your classmate

How do you compare yourself with your classmates from your high-school and univ days? are u satisfied that you have chosen computing or related field as career, especially when you compare your potential - based on your achievement history in school, relatively with your friends?

Pete Goldberg
Thursday, February 12, 2004

I don't compare my accomplishments to the accomplishments of my friends.

I compare my accomplishments to the accomplishments I *planned* to make.

Norrick
Thursday, February 12, 2004

The people I always thought of as dumbasses turned out to, in fact, be dumbasses. The people who had something going for them in life still do. People don't change that much. My best friend in high school wanted to become a veterinarian. He is one now. I was a somewhat nerdy technical guy then and I still am. For the most part, people do reap what they sow.

Matt
Thursday, February 12, 2004

"For the most part, people do reap what they sow"

Really? Bummer.

Thursday, February 12, 2004

When I was young I daydreamed about having surreal control over technology (example: think of the money shot you see when Neo walks up again and warps space, or when Nikon social engineers secretaries). I am very much closer to that now than before, but I know some of my highschool friends have gone much MUCH farther with their dreams. It makes me wonder just how far I can go if I apply myself. I am not sure how I'll find another yellow brick road to do battle with in case I get tired of IT someday, but if I find that other thing to do I am sure I'll apply myself more than ever--because life is short (and getting shorter by the minute).

I am thinking of going into a hybrid field: a mix between short-run publishing, catalog work, and enewsletters.

Li-fan Chen
Thursday, February 12, 2004

Is it normal to even know how most of your classmates are doing?

I've only stayed in contact with the ones who I actually enjoy the company of. Due to circumstances, I've lost contact with most of those too.

I don't really see the point in staying in touch with people I don't like just so I can gloat about how much better I turned out to be than them ...

Sum Dum Gai
Thursday, February 12, 2004

I'm just vaguely in touch with 'em so: I'm better paid, have a better home life and successfully spent most of my 20s having fun (i.e. drunk).

But then I didn't so much plan a job in IT as fall into it. But for an outbreak of incompetence and my extensive research into ethanol, I would have been a chemist ;-)

a cynic writes...
Thursday, February 12, 2004

I've Googled just about everyone I could think of from high school and college.

You'd be amazed at how many of my formerly fat, drunk and stupid friends are now attorneys, physicians, and business executives.

It's damn depressing, I tell you.

There's no justice on earth
Thursday, February 12, 2004

My best friend and roommate from college helped close the Nortel VoIP deal with Verizon.

Another classmate is CEO of Calix Networks and donated $15 million to the college.

I am merely pathetic.

hoser
Thursday, February 12, 2004

There's hope for you yet brother (or sister). There's pleeenty of hosers working for Nortel.

Nigel
Thursday, February 12, 2004

I signed up for classmates.com and read other people's profiles. Maybe it's only the working class who bothers to fill out that kind of thing, but most of the people seemed to lead normal lives. Nothing special. They have children and work mostly. Nobody especially rich, nobody especially poor.

I've googled a few former classmates, but with no success, maybe because they're women and got married.

A few I've run in to work as reasearchers on wall street, got married and had children at a surprisingly early age, and in general are typical 20-somethings.

www.MarkTAW.com
Thursday, February 12, 2004

I've always wanted to do something with my life
so I invented Post-It together with Lisa, my best friend
from hiSchool - and now we're filty rich.

VPC (real name: Mira)
Thursday, February 12, 2004

I was depressed before a recent 10-year reunion, wondering what I'd accomplished in that timespan.

But when I saw my classmates again, I realized none of us had gone on to truly earth-shattering things yet; heck, we're all only in our upper 20s. The most unique ones were one guy who did sound editing in Hollywood (most recently on Big Fish) and another who did mergers and acquisitions and was moving from Germany to Switzerland. Among others: a teacher of deaf kids, a social worker, a biology researcher...and even a rocket scientist who (along with his wife and a few others) is working on getting a satellite launched.

Maybe it'll be different in another ten or twenty years but for me it took a lot of pressure off and reminded me to pursue my own goals instead of someone else's.

(I might have had a good academic career by now if I'd stayed in grad school...but then I'd probably never have met the woman who became my wife, so on balance I prefer the way things are even if I'm stuck in a crappy job at the moment.)

Kyralessa
Thursday, February 12, 2004

The make of our SUVs we drive, whether it's European, Japanese or domestic.

Wacko Jacko
Thursday, February 12, 2004

> I don't compare my accomplishments to the accomplishments of my friends.
> I compare my accomplishments to the accomplishments I *planned* to make.

I tried that but it was too disappointing. Then I tried comparing myself to people I knew. That was pretty depressing too. Then I tried comparing myself to most of the rest of the world. That was not too bad, but didn't do much for me. Finally, I started comparing myself to people on the Jerry Springer show. Now I am happy.

Dennis Atkins
Thursday, February 12, 2004