Patrick, thanks for sharing your story! Seeing all these high school students get involved in EA and starting high impact research projects before they even go to university can feel overwhelming; how could a mid-career professional compete with that???
Actually, mid-career professionals are awesome. They know how the real world works, and they know how to get stuff done. People who have only been students don’t know how to navigate government bureaucracies, bring a product from conception to market, or manage large teams. Indeed, many of our most impressive community members spent their first 10+ years doing non-EA work in the “real world”. Of course whiz kids are also fantastic! But they need mentorship!
So I’m really happy to see you found a place in the EA community, and I hope many more follow your path <3
Patrick, thanks for sharing your story! Seeing all these high school students get involved in EA and starting high impact research projects before they even go to university can feel overwhelming; how could a mid-career professional compete with that???
Actually, mid-career professionals are awesome. They know how the real world works, and they know how to get stuff done. People who have only been students don’t know how to navigate government bureaucracies, bring a product from conception to market, or manage large teams. Indeed, many of our most impressive community members spent their first 10+ years doing non-EA work in the “real world”. Of course whiz kids are also fantastic! But they need mentorship!
So I’m really happy to see you found a place in the EA community, and I hope many more follow your path <3