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I'm thankful that people want to pay me ludicrous sums of money to do the thing I love. I've seen my friends who have the same passion for art, or literature,

I'm thankful that people want to pay me ludicrous sums of money to do the thing I love. I've seen my friends who have the same passion for art, or literature, or even STEM fields like biology and psychology, struggle to make a living "doing what they love." Many of them end up as baristas and uber drivers while they try to make it in their chosen fields. Me? I went to school for something I found fun. I didn't choose programming because it was a wise career move - I chose it because people told me if I do what I love, I'd never work a day in my life. I've certainly made some decent career moves. I moved to where the jobs were, I learned some hot technologies, and I learned a bit about the business side of things. But overall, my very comfortable position in life is due to luck. Luck that I was exposed to programming early on. Luck that I was able to take a traditional, safe path from "I like coding" to "I have a job coding." But most of all, luck that when I got out of school, there was ridiculous demand for the thing I would have done for fun anyway. I'm thankful that the job market is great for devs in SF, and that I love software dev. As a result, I try my best to be aware that most people are fighting a much more uphill battle than me.

nyxxie 7y ago
Definitely this for me as well. When I was younger I was at an interesting crossroads with my freetime where I'd either program or play video games obsessively. I decided to try putting that video game energy into improving my programming ability, and 10 years later now I'm in the valley making FAANG wages at a young age and still absolutely love programming. I have no idea how my life would have turned out if I didn't luck into discovering this amazing hobby. I feel bad calling my job "work" since I very rarely don't feel like coming in.
notduncansmith 7y ago
Similarly, I’m thankful for my good fortune in going to a high school that offered programming classes; for having enough computer-savviness to become a software developer; that this field is unregulated enough that someone like me can earn an almost-unconscionably-good living doing something that, like you said, would be a hobby anyways. I have my dream job, I have a beautiful son and partner, our family is in good health, and are aware of the areas that we should be working to better ourselves... I just hope to make enough of a positive impact from the incredible head start the universe has given me. I’m thankful for this chance to play the game, and I’m thankful that the game exists to be played.

nyxxie 7y ago

Definitely this for me as well. When I was younger I was at an interesting crossroads with my freetime where I'd either program or play video games obsessively. I decided to try putting that video game energy into improving my programming ability, and 10 years later now I'm in the valley making FAANG wages at a young age and still absolutely love programming. I have no idea how my life would have turned out if I didn't luck into discovering this amazing hobby. I feel bad calling my job "work" since I very rarely don't feel like coming in.

notduncansmith 7y ago

Similarly, I’m thankful for my good fortune in going to a high school that offered programming classes; for having enough computer-savviness to become a software developer; that this field is unregulated enough that someone like me can earn an almost-unconscionably-good living doing something that, like you said, would be a hobby anyways. I have my dream job, I have a beautiful son and partner, our family is in good health, and are aware of the areas that we should be working to better ourselves... I just hope to make enough of a positive impact from the incredible head start the universe has given me. I’m thankful for this chance to play the game, and I’m thankful that the game exists to be played.