Post #4270355

Sometimes I sit back and kind of marvel over the fact that I have this whole career as a software developer. I worry I don't value it enough. It didn't happen by accident, but it was a sudden pivot: in less than a year I had a new career after devoting my 20s to trying to become an academic. The other day I was talking with my manager about long-term promotion tracks for me (Engineering manager? Product architect? TPM?) and it sorta hit me that at some level I didn't think I'd last or make it this far. Why would I? And yet, I have. It feels kind of absurd sometimes because one of the things I put so much mental effort and investment into is writing, but I'm not particularly successful with that. And then I have this career that leaves me much more secure than many of the more professional writers I know. Anyway, I will be working to remain grateful that this worked out. It was not inevitable; the other options open to me in 2020 were for a variety of reasons not great.