I am not one for keeping track of significant dates, but today is a special day, because the day after Memorial Day, six years ago, was my first day working as a full-time employee. So, what has happened in these six years?
I went through two job changes, or three companies of varying sizes, experiencing the atmosphere of a startup, a corporate multi-national company, and one that was in between the two, in that order.
I learned web development, heard that corporate Java was where the money was at, went over, and learned that they thought web development was where the money was at, and went back over to web development. One thing that is for sure: in web development, developers are expected to do what three or more people would do in corporate Java. So, at least in web development, it feels that it's worth more in terms of actual value delivered.
I bought a house, and am almost halfway with paying it off (ETA: less than 3 more years).
I learned how much daily commuting distance impacts my overall mood and general morale (a lot).
I more than doubled my pay from my starting salary six years ago.
I went from being passionate about development, and having active side projects going on to cooling down and devoting more time to enjoying life and socializing, to getting tired of the drama and rekindling the passion for development.
I learned a bunch of new languages, methodologies, and social skills.
Overall, it's been a great six years.
This Memorial Day weekend, my brother also came to visit, en route to his former co-worker's wedding. I helped my parents look at the new Camry they were buying. I also cleaned my room, by iterating through the contents of storage boxes we had stored in the closet, trashing trash, and separating out the stuff I wanted to keep, either for sentimental value or for their intrinsic value. In the process, I unearthed boxes of mints that have to be more than 10 years old. Also, I got to see artifacts of a time when a younger me would keep little shiny things just because they were shiny. It was almost like getting to know a new person. That's how much I've changed. Then again, the world has also changed.
