My university has a neat program called “Ask An Alum” where students can ask alumni from their school questions about, well, anything. So today, I logged in and updated my profile, writing up what I’m doing now.

It was kind of surreal; it almost felt like bragging. I remember now when I was just graduating, how little I knew about the world and how much there was yet to do. Now, I can confidently say that I’m successful at what I do and have found my niche, both professionally and personally. Then, I didn’t even know where I’d find a job, and today I’m making decisions about who to hire to work for me.

That’s all appropriate; I mean, I graduated 7 years ago. I’ve been working my ass off since. It’s not like I’m some genius (though, nice of you to think it), I just care about being good at what I do and always try to be better.

I guess what I’m saying is, it was nice to think about how far I’ve actually come in comparison to where I started — and it feels extra good that I still have plenty of time to go farther.