Young badass engineers from the East can dig this story.
I grew up with dreams of being on my own – to be finally able to stand on my own ground with little or no help at all from my family.
While I feel grateful to have a loving home that has provided me with everything that I ever wanted and more, I knew that if I wanted to pursue my dreams, I needed to be independent.
All my life I’ve worked hard to excel in a science high school and survive in engineering college. It was never easy and the plight of a young child going to school five hours away from home is ever present.
But I managed to thrive against all the struggles – and in my journey in achieving my independence, I’ve learned that I am not alone in yearning for freedom.
As soon as most of us get the license that we need to be officially called engineers, most of us find ourselves in situations where we have to work away from home.
To be able to seek a life that would relieve us from poverty (or just work in a company that allows us to grow as better engineers), we pursue opportunities where we have to be away from our homes – from the comfort of our helps’ cooking and the warmth of our parents’ love.
Everything gets harder for us as we pay the rent, the bills that pile up and everything else without the support of our parents.
But everything gets exciting as well. Once you taste that freedom – the ability to support yourself, it gets addicting. While the struggle will always be there, you find yourself liberated from the pressures of living with people whose rules you have to follow.
You get to have the freedom of doing whatever you want on a Friday night after a long day at work.
You get to decided on your own when it comes to what you want to invest on. You are free to choose on whether to spend our money or set them aside for future investments.
As for the young, independent engineers who have been bitten by the travel bug, you’re given the opportunities to travel on your own, to explore new places, meet new people and learn from all the stories you collected along the way.
How exciting it must be to send a text to your loved ones, letting them know you are going to these wonderful places without asking for their permission.
A little tight on the budget of course but you feel no guilt in spending your hard-earned money in traveling.
And for the days we find ourselves penniless, we’re taught to be resourceful. Life somehow teaches us how to survive on cheap food and commuting as we wait for the 15th and 30th days of the month.
But that’s the beauty of being young and independent. We thrive no matter where life takes us.
Whether we live in remote areas or in the big city, we are fine on our own. Until one day, we look back in a big corporate room as we contemplate how our independence has taught us how to make it on top in the engineering field.
Here’s to the young, independent engineers who are not afraid to live outside their comfort zones.
May we meet more of them in our road to success.
