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My Friends are Awesome

We're from the mid- to tail-end of the 1980s, and what are we doing now?  Living the dream, that's what.  Maybe it's not quite the dream our parents had for us, but it's a dream nonetheless.  Sometimes I like to sit back and think about what my friends are doing and give a tiny mental fist-pump for everyone.  Maybe because I never really had a clear idea of what I was going to be "when I grew up," I'm still not quite over the idea that so many of us have "made it" - to jobs or positions or universities where we get to do/study/research/practice what interests us.  And most of what I see written about our generation (apparently we're the "millenials") is that we're all wasting our precious youth, or having it wasted for us by the recession economy: we're working in dead-end jobs with only a fond wish for promotion, sleeping on a lot of sofas, drinking ourselves to death, and looking for love in all the wrong places.  So for once, I'd like to celebrate those of us who are making it.  We're doing ok, you guys, and I think we're going to be ok.

Shout-outs to:
  • Half a dozen teachers, teaching in Oakland and Fairfield and Tallahassee and beyond
  • A good crop of medical students & MD/PhDs, getting ready to go out and save some lives in New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and beyond
  • Several stunning scientists researching chemistry and biology and even sharks
  • Some resourceful religious types helping the rest of us figure it all out
  • So many amazing "intern architects" trying to save the world through design (and black clothing)
  • All those prodigious programmers who keep our computers from taking over the world
  • A watchsmith by day, and artist by evening
  • A composer.  For real.
  • An opera singer who moonlights (daylights?) as a tutor
  • A soon-to-be-veterinarian, reminding us that the world is more than just humans
  • Several social workers, non-profit/NGO gurus, and social-workers-in-training who make the world better for the humans most in need
  • Some lawyers making a difference in international politics, or at least making money!
  • All kinds of engineers (transportation, mechanical, electrical...) making cool stuff and making sure we get where we're trying to go
I know I've forgotten to include some awesome jobs here (policewomen, cartoonists, film & theater folks, arts administrators, astrophysicists), but you get the idea.  Artists, teachers, sciencey-types, humanities-types - they're all there.  I'm so proud of all of you.

Good work, team '80s.  Keep it up.  (And if you want to share your blog/vlog/podcast/whatever, send me a message!)
<3

Comments

  1. So, I just saw this... <3 right back at you!

    (Also, thanks for your confidence in re the lifesaving thing...)

    ReplyDelete

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