I’ve never been one to go for a simple
blackbox solution if I couldn’t overcomplicate things by doing it myself.
As some people know, I tend to bite off more than I can chew, to run before I can walk, and similar metaphors — basically, I’m too foolish to be afraid of a challenge that’s over my head. This tendency sometimes gets me into trouble, but on the flip side, I’ll never get bored with learning new things! Another corollary is that I like to wear various hats:
I started by learning techniques from online tutorials, but I really tackled the learning curve while working at
the Mighty Engine (formerly Osiris Group), a marketing firm in Philly. (IE6 was the bane of my existence there.) I began with some really helpful books and lots of feedback from the senior web developer. Now, as a freelance developer, I often conduct my web experiments on this site =)
My real job is being an MD-PhD student at Penn. Ever since I stepped out of medical school, I realized how demanding it is and how institutionalized I was. That said, I came to terms with who I am and what I want in life. I don’t think I could have figured out any of that without my Penn family.
Missing my high school show choir and trying to cure myself of stage fright/medical student presentation anxiety, I took a plunge into musical theatre. I had always thought that the only people who did this kind of thing were professionals who had been doing it all their lives; I didn’t know it was possible to do musicals as a hobby. Now, I don’t know whom I’d be without theatre.
Sometimes I wish my interests were more narrow and aligned so that my life wouldn’t be so complicated, but I’ve learned that I must maintain some sort of creative outlet lest I go positively bonkers. Then again, my complicated life drives me bonkers, too. And really, life is short. So what is there to do but fasten my seatbelt and enjoy the ride!