Reflections on transition...
As many of you know, I graduated from RPI not too long ago and relocated back to Florida. Now I'm going to grad school at a more normal university, and also trying to fit in with some of the undergrad population. Sure I may not have local geek friends of the same techie caliber as the ones I knew at RPI, but that seems to be the only thing I left behind.
The big problem when I was at RPI, was lack of uniqueness. Now of course, to everyone who really knew me, I was quite unique. However, figuratively speaking, I was one of a hundred on paper. It was way too difficult to stand out and get noticed.
One good example is the job market. At RPI, I remember combing entire career fairs full of companies in which I'd have interest, and not hearing back from a single one of them. At the UCF equivalent a few weeks ago, I wound to only giving out like 3 resumes, but I've already gotten past the first level on 2 of them. Whether or not things pan out, it still means that I actually look good on paper now.
Another area, which is something that I used to complain way too much about (and get told not to think about), would be women. Basically, I never had even a smidgen of luck during high school. Yeah, I'm the looser that was unilaterally ignored and never went to a prom or event of any sort.
Then I went to RPI. At RPI, everyone knows the social dynamic... The "ratio" says I have a 1 in 4 chance. But the reality, once you apply certain filters, says I have a 1 in 50 chance. Why do you say? Well, on the surface, there were many guys just like me, and very few girls we could get along with. So yeah, those 3 1/2 years were completely and utterly empty of anything at all, unless you twist, contort, and redefine your terminology to include maybe one or two brief events which don't even half-count.
Now that I'm at UCF, something amazing has happened. Not only are women no longer repulsed by me, they don't even understand why I've felt that way for so long. Frankly, right now the only thing standing in my way seems to be a preference of religion, and that's a concern that always seems to be getting less important internally to me in the present. (ok, it's a Jewish thing, and makes sense from a family perspective) And I'm even still making progress, albeit slowly, in that area. I guess one of the biggest problems for me in this area is that I feel like a 30-year-old with no experience trying to get an entry-level job. Hopefully that won't be the case for that much longer.
Well, enough rambling for now :)
The big problem when I was at RPI, was lack of uniqueness. Now of course, to everyone who really knew me, I was quite unique. However, figuratively speaking, I was one of a hundred on paper. It was way too difficult to stand out and get noticed.
One good example is the job market. At RPI, I remember combing entire career fairs full of companies in which I'd have interest, and not hearing back from a single one of them. At the UCF equivalent a few weeks ago, I wound to only giving out like 3 resumes, but I've already gotten past the first level on 2 of them. Whether or not things pan out, it still means that I actually look good on paper now.
Another area, which is something that I used to complain way too much about (and get told not to think about), would be women. Basically, I never had even a smidgen of luck during high school. Yeah, I'm the looser that was unilaterally ignored and never went to a prom or event of any sort.
Then I went to RPI. At RPI, everyone knows the social dynamic... The "ratio" says I have a 1 in 4 chance. But the reality, once you apply certain filters, says I have a 1 in 50 chance. Why do you say? Well, on the surface, there were many guys just like me, and very few girls we could get along with. So yeah, those 3 1/2 years were completely and utterly empty of anything at all, unless you twist, contort, and redefine your terminology to include maybe one or two brief events which don't even half-count.
Now that I'm at UCF, something amazing has happened. Not only are women no longer repulsed by me, they don't even understand why I've felt that way for so long. Frankly, right now the only thing standing in my way seems to be a preference of religion, and that's a concern that always seems to be getting less important internally to me in the present. (ok, it's a Jewish thing, and makes sense from a family perspective) And I'm even still making progress, albeit slowly, in that area. I guess one of the biggest problems for me in this area is that I feel like a 30-year-old with no experience trying to get an entry-level job. Hopefully that won't be the case for that much longer.
Well, enough rambling for now :)