Well, this advice didn't mess me up but pushed me in the opposite direction. When I was a kid, my parents told me that little girls like me should study in a l

Well, this advice didn't mess me up but pushed me in the opposite direction. When I was a kid, my parents told me that little girls like me should study in a local college, get good grades, find a comfortable job (preferably an accountant), settle down in the same city (as my parents) and get married by 21 (years). My college was in a different city as compared to where I grew up. This really helped in teaching me how to live on my own. I took to computers, interned at a couple of companies and got hired by another software company, moved to the United States, and dated and married a fellow computer nerd a little over a month ago (let's just say I'm way over 21 now). I think I did well.