Certainly, I would love to take responsibility. But, generally, the data shows otherwise. Of my 10-20 closest friends, many of whom I consider smarter than my

Certainly, I would love to take responsibility. But, generally, the data shows otherwise. Of my 10-20 closest friends, many of whom I consider smarter than myself, many are still in working class poverty, working as bartenders and laborers. In fact, only about 25% of adults in the US attain college degrees. Most of those degrees are attained by people already in the middle class. Furthermore, many are in uneconomical specialties like Literature. At some level, I suppose I was a better decision maker, but overwhelmingly I happened to be in the right place at the right time. Some 'luck' factors: - At 17, I became friends, by accident, with a boy in another area whose dad was the VP of an engineering company. His dad saw my interest in science and encouraged me to go to college. - At 18, while working as a temp, I happened to make friends with a retired engineer who encouraged me to college. - I went to college in the 90s, at a time when Computer Science was a much more achievable major. Now, it is much more competitive. - In the 90s, Computer Science had much less inspiring occupational outlook. I believe chemical engineering was all the rage then. - I stumbled into Computer Science by accident. I happened to be a Physics major who had a sad, late night addiction to MUDs. And, I decided to start my own MUD and code it myself.