Growing up, my dad would always remind us that America doesn’t guarantee anyone happiness. “It guarantees us the pursuit of happiness,” he’d say. Sounds like a cheap deal: America gives us opportunities, but we still have to put in all the work. But that is more than any other country offers its citizens.
Tech is where “doing research” does not require me to have a Ph.D., and where “writing for a living” does not require me to scribble articles for pennies into the void. In tech, writing thoughtfully and persuasively about a topic means that others genuinely engage with those ideas, remix them freely and reach out with opportunities to transform them into reality. My peers in tech have never questioned the importance of my (sometimes eccentric) obsessions and rabbit holes, but instead urge me to act upon the ideas I care about and to take my own dreams seriously.