An alum from the class of '02 is in town for a visit and just stopped by my office. After an awkward "to hug or not to hug" moment we moved on to talking about our lives. She's living in NY, translating for refugees, waitressing, and reading scripts for a literary agent. She is also the first person who upon hearing what I am doing with my life has said "let me know when you are running an organization so I can come work for you." Everybody else I know says "you'll work for the company I'm going to found, won't you?" I'd never thought about it before, it was just the way Nelly phrased it that threw the rest into relief.

That was my deep personal reflection for the morning. It inspired yet another internal monologue about how no one should found a company until they have some profound explanation for why what they are doing is different from what everyone else is doing. (And "we all went to school together" doesn't really cut it). But that's just my opinion, and it runs counter to those of at least 6 people who've graduated from UT in the last 4 years or so. Training, whether on the job or at school (but with any luck some of both) is crucial.

That is my righteousness for the morning.
- posted by Heidi @ 10:08 AM