The last two years have been a bit of a facade. I've lost passion, drive, and interest in education, work, and life in general. Church has been the source of some disillusionment and the target of some frustration. Things came to a head this semester, as it came time to face the music and realize that I'm not academically or financially capable of earning my graduate degree in electrical and computer engineering.
And then, things got better...
Brian Plett was instrumental in starting my running addiction. Last December, he invited me to join him in an April race, so I accepted and started training. It's been a gradual process, but consistent exercise has been instrumental in improving my physical and mental conditioning, and has played a key role in getting me to think rationally about my future (if you don't have answers to your problems after a 3-hour run, you ain't getting them).
In August, I was offered an internship with Puppet Labs in Portland. It has been a fantastically stretching experience, enabling me to turn a long-time passion of web development into a paid opportunity to work with some of the best designers and front-end engineers in the business. Never have 14-hour days in the office and on the bus passed so quickly.
In September, I went on a camping trip to the John Day area with several friends. It further helped to clear my mind and give me proper perspective on the important things in life. Ashamed as I am to admit it, the financial stress involved in studying at Purdue has negatively affected my behavior towards my family and friends. Obvious as it may seemed, this trip helped me realize that family and friends should take priority over education, and solidified my resolve to make changes to my academic program.
In October, I notified the head of the Electrical Engineering department at Purdue of my desire to drop out of the program. While I'd dreaded the moment for a long time, making the decision brought a good deal of stress relief. Trusting God to direct my future is the right thing to do. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different results. My past couple years have met that definition.
In November, I met with my manager at Puppet Labs for a one-on-one, giving him an honest evaluation of my academic prospects. Not only was he understanding, and eager to support my desire to switch majors from ECE to Computer Science (my undergraduate degree is in CS, so pursuing a graduate degree in the same was an obvious choice), but offered me a full-time position until I move to Indiana in Fall of 2012.
Where do I go from here?
God has provided abundantly. He's given me hope again for the future. Even though my application to the School of Computer Science at Purdue is by no means guaranteed to be accepted, I don't fear rejection. He's provided a full-time job (a job I love) which will provide enough money for me to focus on school full-time during Fall 2012 and Spring 2013, if that's indeed what I end up doing.
Even though I can't fully express my appreciation to everyone who has been involved in my life, I'd like to thank each one of you for your role in bringing me to where I am now. God is good, and I pray I never think otherwise, no matter what the future may bring.
Until next time,
- Daniel
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Haha, glad to be the trigger for you in running. I just mentioned it once, and you took it the rest of the way, and have totally surpassed me in running. But it is good to get out and run, I almost always feel better afterwards.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are on the right track now with your life! It will be exciting to see where things lead. :)