Recently I get asked a lot if I still like my job. The answer is: yep. It seems like people are expecting me to get sick of my job and go crazy. Then write about it. I don’t blame people for thinking that. I used to wonder the same thing. Or worry about it.
But now I don’t. If I do get sick of my job, it won’t be for a while.
It’s as surprising to me as anyone else that I feel that way.
But I know why I do:
- I like math a lot. Now I get to read about math all the time.
- Generally I like learning new things and now I get to read books and learn new things often.
- I have not matured at all since the day I finished grad school. I have continued to live my life as a student, as if everything is new and complete change at most one quarter away. That is both good and bad. And that is me in a nutshell. I dropped out of high school, but have always regretted doing that. Whenever I think of high school, I wish I could go back in time and attend a day. And that’s me in two nutshells. Since 2004 I have missed school tremendously. Now I am back on a campus.
- And not just any campus. UCLA feels like the center of everything — like that new Jack in the Box commercial. A bunch of people in toga outfits dance behind Jack. Well the building behind the people in Toga outfits is Royce hall, because that commercial was filmed right in front of the UCLA library. The center of everything. And I like being in the center of everything.
- I also like being part of a community, and UCLA contains a large social infrastructure. There are many clubs to attend. Right now I’m taking yoga at the John Wooden Rec Center. Next month I’m going on a camping trip with UCLA Outdoor Adventures.
- Most importantly I actually like what I do. I enjoy my life from 8 to 5.
It’s weird liking my job this much. So much of my previous lifestyle was a reaction to hating the so-called corporate culture of wherever I worked. Now I like my supervisor, and I like who I am. I actually feel good when people ask me what I do. I feel good telling people what I do. But because I like my job so much, I don’t write like I used to. The part of me that wrote like I used to is resting.
Getting high: still great. Listening to rap: still great. Making friends laugh: still great. Reading Bukowski: still great. I haven’t stopped doing those things. Writing is also still great, but I don’t do that as much. I look at more art now. I play more video games now. I’m in a different world now.
But when it comes to coffee and math, those are the most great. Or maybe they aren’t the most great, but I like them a lot more than I thought I did. In that sense I was wrong about myself. In that sense I am someone I didn’t expect.
1 response so far ↓
1 M. Downing // Jan 28, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Good work, Ian. Still really happy for you that the new gig is rocking. You’re incredibly fortunate to have a job you enjoy so much in an environment you enjoy so much–glad someone so deserving gets to experience that.
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