Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Do what you like. Like what you do.



That's my motto. I borrowed it from a favorite t-shirt I got from the folks at Life is Good.

I'm really very fortunate. The thing I really love to do is the thing I get to do every day of my professional life. I work in a field that I fell in love with when I was in college. I originally started out as an Accounting major but was also taking pre-Law courses. I guess I thought I'd be some bigshot corporate lawyer or such. But during my 2nd year of core courses in my major, I was feeling pretty low about my choice. Frankly, I hated it. Unsure of what to do, I was taking a required course in, of all things, BASIC programming (that's Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)...yes, I'm old. Anyway, we were given a project to develop a program of our own choosing and in working on that project, I realized I'd found my calling. I loved it. I loved the logic of it; the challenge of getting a computer to do what I wanted it to do.

What I have come to realize over the years is that getting a computer to do what you want it to do is just part of the fun. It's about getting the computer (i.e. your application, your database, your "system") to do it well and not only perform the functions desired, but to perform them quickly and efficiently.

That's really where my focus is today. My job is all about optimal performance. My company, Method R, has a tag-line that says we are "committed to genuinely satisfying software performance". How cool is that? Every day I get the opportunity to help people get the most out of their systems. I teach. I consult. I assist with product development. I just plain have fun.

This blog will be my space to document some of the things that interest me and to share my experiences doing what I really love to do. I thought it would be a good way to preserve some of my day-to-day goings on to help jog my memory as time passes. As much fun as experiencing something is, for me, it's almost as fun to relive the experience. What I journal here will help me do just that.

I hope you'll stop by and join in the fun. And, if you're doing what you love to do...yea! If you're not, I wish for you to find the thing you're passionate about...and do it!

1 comment:

Tony said...

Karen -

Looking forward to reading more about your experiences. As Carey stated in his post, you are great teacher and I am looking forward to this being another avenue for us to learn from you.