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Milestones in My Own Journey: Part 2

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In my first Milestones in My Own Journey post I talked about how I ended up as a programmer. Now I’m going to talk about how I got out of it.

What do you do when you realize you spent a ton of money on a degree but hate your job? Honestly, you freakout first.

First, changing direction didn’t happen overnight. To make the change I needed to admit to myself that I really hated what I was doing. I would say that was one of the harder moments. I’d worked hard, invested years of my time and lots of money to have the career I was in. The only thing I was sure about was that I wanted a Masters degree. I’d had that planned before college but I had made the decision not to go directly from undergrad to graduate school.

Going back to school isn’t an option or necessary to change careers. I love academia so school was the most obvious choice for me at the time.

Once I decided I needed to make a change the universe helped. I got laid off from a job that was driving me nuts. I took my severance and happily packed my box and left the office my last day with no plans for the future. I don’t think I ever been happier to leave a job than I was that day. The only thing I was sure of was that it wasn’t going to be more of the same.

I took my time and found several graduate schools to send in applications. While I wanted on the results of hours of research, writing essays and getting recommendations I decided to have some fun. My research included contacting alumni from each school and different graduation years to find out what they had to say about the master’s program. I highly recommended if you’re thinking about any school that you try that exercise. Well worth the effort.

So did I work before I went to graduate school? Nope. What I did do was look for the required jobs to get unemployment but I spent the rest of the time taking art classes. I learned to make mosaics, made Papier-mâché using balloons and  did some figure drawing on South Beach.

I got accepted to New York University’s Interactive Telecommunication program.

What can I say about graduate school?
Well it achieved its purpose. I changed my career direction. Would I do it again? Definitely. Same school? Probably not. This has more to do with the fact that I’m not the same person I was when I applied to graduate school. My needs have changed. As with any educational endeavor you get out of it what you put into it.

So what’s next?
I thought I knew but now I’m mulling over my options. Is more schooling in my future? Probably. I take continuing education classes regularly. What about another graduate degree? Perhaps a doctorate? Not sure but what I do know for sure is it’s definitely not in my immediate future.

Stay tuned for the next chapter in my evolution. With me you never know what’s next. I reserve the right to change my mind and my direction as often as it pleases me.

Lessons Learns: Post A Day Challenge

I signed up on January 5th and here’s what I’ve learned so far….

• Over-thinking is the reason posts take longer to write than they need to
• Noisy neighbors are distracting. Headphones are your best friend.
• Being tired isn’t an excuse not to finish what I started. There is always going to be something!
• Finding new ideas is a challenge. Keep a notebook handy.
• Write about things you are passionate about. Or else you will have writer’s block.
• Save your posts often if writing in your browser. You never know when the stupid thing will crash. Better yet use a offline editor like MarsEdit (Sorry only works on a Mac OS).
• I really don’t feel like writing a lot over the weekend. I need a break
• Most importantly…write when you have something compelling to say on a topic

February is around the corner not sure yet what I’m writing about but so far it’s been a great motivator to participate in the challenge.

What Facebook Won’t Tell You?

In the February 2011 issue of Smart Money author Jami Makan discusses The 10 Things That Facebook Won’t Tell You

1. We were in the right place at the right time
2. We know where you go online…
3. ….and we hope you don’t mind being tracked offline, too
4. Your account isn’t exactly secure
5. If it feels addictive, it probably is
6. We give brands fans – and the occasional headache
7. Get ready for some awkward moments
8. Apps can be tough to police
9. We aren’t the only game in town
10. You’ll have to wait to get a piece of us

Item 4 isn’t exactly news since privacy issues have plagued the social network for quite some time. And anyone who is waiting on the Facebook IPO is going to have to wait. Rumors of a 2011 IPO offering are just that…rumors.

Regarding item 8 Facebook claims to be trying to do a better job of policing the apps that run on its platform. So far they aren’t doing that great of a job. Apps have access to a user’s data once the user has granted access. Facebook needs to do a better job of making sure app developers don’t violate user rights and use the data collected for something other than it’s original purpose.

You can read the full story on the online version of the article at Smart Money.