Won’t get too detailed so I don’t accidentally dox myself or something, but I’ve been considering my life up to this point, and I can’t help but feel I definitely might’ve wound up on the wrong side of history if divine intervention and my own intuition hadn’t gotten in the way.
I know people who work at Neuralink, Facebook, Google, IBM, etc. My college was pretty successful for job placement at big name companies
I’ve been in some of the “financial centers and think tanks” of the world as a student. I was presented with opportunities to engage with their work, especially toward the end of my undergraduate career. Most of these people made me uneasy; at the time, I couldn’t place my finger on why. But I always felt the urge to keep those places at arms distance.
As a gifted kid, I feel incredibly blessed to have gotten out of public school relatively unscathed. I feel incredibly lucky I didn’t join the status quo in college despite the pressure to conform.
This refusal to conform is definitely giving me some roadblocks now that I’m trying to get started in my career, but it does feel like I’ve dodged many bullets on the journey. And I’m glad I’m not part of the hive mind like most of my peers.
Anyone else have the same experience?
Edit to say: thanks to everyone who has commented! Really appreciate knowing others have similar journeys.
I guess my story was exactly opposite of yours. I did not go back to college after high school until I was ~36yo. By this time, I was wise enough not to fall for the BS being peddled by the teachers. Had a college professor ask me to state in front of the class "what the scariest thing was about going back to college after so long?". My reply left our class laughing out loud, uncontrollably. I replied, "becoming an educated dumbass like you"!
Not as old as you but I took a long break not knowing what I wanted to do in life and ended up going back to finish my degree in my late 20's which is probably how I graduated university coming out more conservative than when I went in.