On Changes
[draft]So, what are you gonna do with that [degree in anthropology]?
The first few times I was asked that question, uncertainty clamped me, and a mixture of anxiety shrouded me in anger, and left me no heart to appreciate the love and care of those spared no hesitation for my momentary comfort and tried to imagine my future success in a world that they thought they knew.
I knew that I didn't know what I was doing. I wistfully imagined that I would just learn whatever I needed on the job, or be accepted into the Foreign Service. I resisted the professional tracks of my in-group peers, and craved freedom. I didn't get what I wanted. The price of rebellion is high, and reality is more beautiful than the plan of man.
I ended up going home to Houston after graduation, tutored high schoolers for pay, lived on a ranch in Central Texas, and finally worked at a startup in DC before one fateful encounter with a USPS API pushed me towards considering computer science. Travis Breaux's name came up on the first page of Google when I searched for "anthropology and computer science," so I found his CMU email and wrote him. He replied recommending a second bachelors, and I took his advice to heart. Given my interests in capabilities and computing as a means of obtaining insight, I am happy with my choice, even with all the moments I felt out of place.
The best engineers I have known learned how to code at unassuming state schools, in-between shifts as a paratrooper in Afghanistan, never having gone to college, started from modifying video games, and debugged a lot of bad code. In the words of Sihui, "if you can cook, you can code."
I find education to be the output of the student as part of their development and growth. Whether you do that at a four year campus, watching YouTube, modify Excel formulas, or building your own ideas from scratch, is a personal decision. However you choose to pursue this, I have faith that you can find others to walk with you, and that if you ask for purpose, you will find it—when intrinsic motivations are greater than extrinsic ones, you ought to find joy even in small accomplishments.
Reach out to me, like many others, I budget time for this.