I originally wrote this as anonymously possible, but I realized that no one will ever read it so I decided to go all out.

I grew up in a college town. It’s a predominately white, middle class community. I didn’t get any scholarships, so when I was getting ready to apply for college, my parents came to me and said the words, “We only have a little money to give you for college, but you can live at home for free if you stay in town.” So I stuck around and got a degree in mechanical engineering in five years at that school. College was great. I lived with my parents for three of the five years I was in school. I lived at home the first two years, moved out for two years, and moved back home for my last year because I didn’t want to be tied to a lease while I was job hunting.

Then I got a field job in oil and gas with an offer that let me stay in my hometown. I was stoked to stay, and I took it. I spent the next two-ish years on a rotation that had me working 100 hours a week or coasting through work life when things weren’t so busy. It was fun. I’ll never forget leaving my first day of work. I was ecstatic based solely on the fact that I didn’t hate it. I had to be at work at 4:00 am. I lived 45 minutes away from the place I worked, so I had to wake up at 2:30 in order to take a shower, make sure I was ready for work, and drive there. I worked from 4 am to 6 pm almost everyday. I worked two weeks on and one week off. The week off made it worth it.

After awhile doing that I got a call from my boss’es boss telling me about a job across the country. It was mine if I wanted it. I ended up taking it, and my mom was heartbroken about it. I moved to Pittsburgh two months later. Now, two years later, I’m still here in the ‘Burgh. It’s pretty been pretty good to me.