How Did We Get Here?

I'm one of the lucky ones. This may not come as a surprise to you, but in the face of the statistics pointing to an ever-decreasing demand to attend and complete a bachelor's course, somehow I managed to pass that milestone, land a job in my incredibly niche chosen field (teaching German), and still somehow move on.

A quick search shows the following statistics:

• Only 46% of college graduates work in jobs related to their field of study.
• 52% of college graduates are underemployed, meaning they work in jobs that typically do not require a bachelor's degree.

Crazy to think that I could be the lead administrator for any online technology education platform, let alone the NetworkChuck Academy. Let me unpack that for just second. The skills I cultivated while building this very website enabled me to meet the meet the challenges (I'll save you the details) of my current position head on. I work for and alongside the guy whose YouTube videos got me interested in technology in the first place. None of the training / learning path went to waste; my tool pouch is full, and I use every one of my tools to accomplish my day's work.

While puttering with my fledgling website back in (maybe early) 2020 while working for DYB in Seoul, I would never have dreamed that I would someday be in the position I currently occupy. It's not without difficulty that I trace back the steps that lead to this moment. I can't help but remember back to the nostalgic refrains echoed by my old boss / supervisor, Michael Meyers (no, not that one—the other one you didn't know from the movies), quoting the opening lines from that old Talking Heads song.

I ask myself, "How did I get so lucky?" I may not be teaching German any more, but once the shine wore off that apple I found something else that tickled and got trained up in it. Somehow, despite the odds, that second education also ended up being put to use.

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If there is one takeaway for me, it's to never stop learning—it won't be in vain (edited; credit goes to Kevin Kim for catching my sloppiness). You may not land where you had envisioned your future self to be 10 years from now, but in pursuing what you love, you'll be in the right ballpark. Maybe it sounds a bit hedonistic, but if learning something pleases you to, you should probably do it. You never know where it might take you or when you will look back wondering how you got where you are.