Ten years out.

[saxikath]

They say it never rains on Harvard commencement.

They're wrong.

It's been raining pretty much all day; I imagine there are some pretty soggy mortarboards out there.

Ten years ago, it was me in the mortarboard, though it was hot and sunny, not raining, that day. (June 4, 1992.) Hard to believe it's been ten years since I graduated from college. And what have I done in that time? Well, let's see.

• I went to grad school, twice. I spent a year in journalism school and decided that wasn't for me, living on my own in Berkeley in the process. I then went to history of science grad school for two years, before deciding that wasn't for me either. Got a master's degree in history of science, which I don't remotely use.
  
• I moved six times.
  
• I made it through one bout of pneumonia, one bout of chicken pox, a sprained ankle or three, assorted colds and flu-y things, ongoing wrist tendonitis, occasional panic and anxiety attacks, and multiple rounds with depression (now medicated, though far from gone).
  
• My parents got divorced. I survived.
  
• I learned that I really like being a word-wrangler, editor, writer, researcher.
  
• I discovered the National Puzzlers' League and found out that yes, I'm actually good at that sort of thing.
  
• I made a lot of good friends. (See previous entry, though of course not exclusively through that.)
  
• I discovered that I had a voice worth training, and that stage performing was a big part of me.
  
• I dated for a little while. And learned that dating is nice, but being single is just fine too.
  
• I visited Portugal and France.
  
• I drove across the country by myself.
  
• I gained a lot of weight.
  
• I helped create textbooks.
  
• I had a fling with the dotcom world, and learned that I don't like doing marketing work and management, unless I can keep a hand in the content too. And that I value my out-of-the-office time too much to flourish in that kind of high-pressure, long-hours environment.
  
• I became an out-and-out, confirmed Internet junkie.
  
• . . .
  

So why don't I feel like I've accomplished much of anything?

Comments

Yup

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Very, very wrong. Man is it rainy.

And anyway, what's an "accomplishment," really? There is no accomplishment. If you finish something, it just means it's time to start something else. Really, all there is is journey.

The band, I mean. Yup. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'.

Accomplishments

[lemurtanis.livejournal.com]

Eh, gotta go with Lance on this one. Personally I rate my relative success level in terms of human relationships. Have I made new friends? Have I lost more than I've gained? Am I miserably unhappy with nothing to show for it, not even experience?

Of course, I'm just a young'un, so don't mind me. Think I'll go back to playing with my Teletubbies now.

[thedan.livejournal.com]

"Personally I rate my relative success level in terms of human relationships."

Ha! So we are alike after all. ;)

[lemurtanis.livejournal.com]

I include - and in fact value most highly - friendships as far as human relationships go, dear.

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

I visited Portugal and France.

Well, if nothing else, you have shown yourself to be a serious World Cup jinx. Any chance you could visit Poland and South Korea in the next week?

I've done the same mental exercise, and there are times that I wonder if I haven't wasted the last 12 years of my life. But, in the end, I think the most important things you can accomplish are as a person, doing things for the betterment of others.

I haven't known you for 10 years, but I've known you for eight(!), and I know my life has been greatly enriched by the experience. And I know I'm not the only one. That's a pretty significant accomplishment right there.