Hey guys,
I've been lurking here a while and have seen some posts referencing how they feel this subreddit is toxic or depressing, and also asking about what happens to "average joe" CS students. I'd like to share my story if anyone cares.
I started my CS degree at a community college for two years, then a I transferred to a no name liberal arts college. If anything this school would be considered below average honestly. I never grinded leetcode, worked on personal projects, or really learned anything outside of the school curriculum. In my junior year I mass applied to internships.
I was asked to come in for an interview with a super small company that had maybe 20 employees if you include the interns. One of my interview questions was literally fizzbuzz. I was offered the internship and stayed there for about a year being paid minimum wage. Getting paid to program while a college student instead of working in retail? Hell yeah. I didn't care at all it wasn't a prestigious or high paying internship.
In my senior year I mass applied to jobs and received two interviews. One with a government agency and one with a medium sized company I'm sure no one would have heard of. Neither interview was particularly challenging or included any leetcode. I accepted an offer from the medium sized company for a salary of 70k with a 3k sign on bonus. I also received a conditional job offer from the government pending what looked to be a fairly intensive background check. I declined that offer since I'd have to move.
My point is if you're gunning for FAANG then by all means shoot for the moon, I wish you the best. But if you're just some college student who's worrying if they'll even find a job after graduation just relax. There's plenty of opportunities out there your degree will open for you that are just fine comfortable jobs. And if you don't find one immediately after graduation, still relax. The overwhelming majority of college students won't. Most major in something much less employable than CS and spend years after being a fresh graduate to find their "grown up" job. It's not ideal but no one seems to care as much as on this subreddit. You'll all be fine.
I'm a PM at a high growth startup that IPO'd two years ago so I've gotten some great first hand experience. But I see that a lot of execs at most companies have some MBA. I've been working for 5 years and I'm considering getting an MBA from either HBS, GBS, or Wharton (if I get in and that's a big IF). Trying to get some perspective on how folks in this community navigated whether to get an MBA or not and if you did, what role did it play further down in your career. Did the cost of MBA pay itself later down the road? Would you do it again if you were to start over?
That's right. I bought Bitcoin before it even existed. All these posts on here about people buying bitcoin so early, I figured I better share my heart warming, humble story of success.
I've always been sort of an economics expert. I watched the movie 'The Big Short', and understood literally everything they talked about. Our banking system is really easy for me to comprehend, even though for most people, it can be quite confusing. If you have questions, feel free to ask me.
I anticipated Bitcoin being invented, so I paid people 3 years ahead of time for their future holdings, at a guarantied fixed price. I actually used an Ethereum smart contract back in 2005, to lock in these business contracts. I'm so ahead of the game. This might come off as a little arrogant, but I have to face the truth - I'm probably the smartest person out of everyone I know. I figured I needed to post it on the subreddit so you all have a chance to meet and get to know me, and you can be inspired to try and be me. I have so much wisdom to share, because I make such incredible financial decisions. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a financial guru. I'm always giving my friends and family free financial tips, even if they don't ask for it, because I want them to succeed too.
In dollar terms, I’m almost a bitcoin bazillionaire. It feels good, but not because I can brag about the accumulated wealth, it’s more that the people who I told to invest whatever money they could afford to lose, back in early 2005, all told me I was an idiot. Those same people have now been humbled.
I have too many tips to share from my experience. I'll save those for another post.
Edit: For everyone messaging me regarding financial tips. This post is sarcasm and fake. I'm actually not a bazillionaire. But, Bitcoin hittin' at least 150k, 2021 for damn sure.
Hello everyone! I’ve been a long-time lurker here since I discovered FIRE back in 2014, but I’ve rarely posted. I hit $1 million earlier this year, and I wanted to share my story and hopefully exchange some valuable insights with you. It has taken me a while to work up the courage to share, but here goes. I’ll try to keep it fairly short and simple, although I apologize in advance for the long Background section, and I’ll follow up with more details as they come up in the discussion.
TL;DR: I’m 34, single, watch collector, no children (and don’t plan on having any if I can help it). My NW reached ~$1 million at the end of August 2020. I increased my liquid net worth from zero to $850,000 in 6.5 years, and I aim to reach my FI number of $2.5 million by age 41. I don’t hate my job, but I do hate that it keeps me from staying fit and active, so the sooner I become FI the better. Look at my charts. Ask me questions or for more charts. Thank you for reading!
Background
I grew up middle class in a developing country (Middle East) as an only child. I was privileged to have parents who were more than willing to forego most pleasures in life—including travel, nicer cars, etc.—and to instead spend every penny they had to make sure I received the best education possible. They put me in a private American school and paid for my college education, but they also were not the absolute savviest with money.
My health and education came first for my parents, but what came a very close second was every little whim and desire I had as a child—they spoiled me. They almost never invested, and instead spent all their extra money on whatever clothes, computers, videogames, music CDs, cameras or extra pocket money I wanted as a teenager. They found it very hard to say no to me. Because of this I grew up not knowing or appreciating the value of money, and by the time they (involuntarily) retired in their 50s they had virtually no savings.
What’s done is done, right? By the time I woke up to all this in 2013, I was 26 years old and armed with a pretty good education, but I hadn’t exactly been all that successful since graduating in 2008. I had gotten my CPA back in 2009 and was working at a public accounting firm making a measly $12,000/year (yes, that low, because developing country).
I hated my job, mainly because of the people I worked with, but I won’t get into that in any great detail. There was just a big gap between the way I had learned to work in a private
... keep reading on reddit ➡
So not long after I got into D2 and its lore, I looked up discussions relating to the location of the Last City (including this big one that's linked in this sub's FAQ) and I thought I was up to date on most of the major clues on this topic.
Skip to earlier today when I was reading through the Eva's Journey lorebook, and came across an interesting detail in the Invisible Scars entry. Eva, staying at the Farm in the EDZ, receives a call from Tess in the City. It is described as very late at night at the Farm (to the point that Eva complains to Tess about her timing) while it's daytime in the city.
>The light from the screen lit the room, which was otherwise almost completely dark. She blearily peered into the unit, as the image of Tess Everis resolved itself. It was daylight in the City, and Tess was impeccably dressed for work.
>"Do you have any idea what time it is here?" Eva asked, allowing the annoyance to seep into her words.
This establishes a fact: The City is far enough longitudinally (ie east or west) from the EDZ that it can be late night at the latter and daytime in the former.
So to go further I pulled up a time zone map of the world.
I'm making a few assumptions here: that the EDZ is in/around Switzerland (UTC+1), that the call in the entry happens at around midnight, that Daylight Savings (if it's even still relevant by the time of Destiny) is not in effect, and that Destiny's various sci-fi/paracausal shenanigans haven't altered how time zones work on Earth. Comparing it to popular candidates for the City's location, that would make the time:
-Around 6-7 PM in the Andes Mountains (Colombia/Peru/Chile).
-Around 4 AM in/near the Cosmodrome (Baikonur, Kazakhstan)
-Around 4-5 AM in Nepal.
So...actually not that clear. All three (Cosmodrome to a lesser extent) are in ranges where, depending on the exact time of the call and the season, it could conceivably be daytime while it's dark in the EDZ, but South America shows the biggest time difference. Personally, taking it with all the other clues, I'd put this as a point in South America's favor, but I'm interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this information.
