Job Anxiety

At the tail-end of my grueling four-year math/finance degree, I fell into a deep depression. I was really worried about starting my adult life with such a shattered mental state. How was I expected to make critical decisions for my career?

It was then that I started marathoning  GBA games as a form of escape. During lunch, during class. I would even play inside my empty university church – mistaken for a devout student, head hung low in prayer.

One of the games I remember the fondest is Final Fantasy V. This entry featured an evolved job system from the relatively simple mechanic introduced in the past. I liked the freedom with Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Galuf’s capabilities, and that their classes were never built into their personalities. The game encouraged experimentation, paired up with a forgiving Ability Points system with a really satisfying skill progression.

I try to avoid long-winded JRPG runs via strategy guides. But something about FFV made me sink tens of hours just trying out different builds on my party members (even making a team of Blue Mages at one point) just to take on the toughest bosses in the game.

It seems silly, but this freedom influenced my perspective on a “career”. I thought my diploma sealed my fate. To this day, I can say I’ve looked at every opportunity with an open mind and a heart for adventure – and I’m all the happier for that. I’ve been a financial modeler, a salesperson, a copywriter, a project manager, a game designer, and so on.

Thanks to FFV, I do believe all of these professions inform – not define – my identity and the way I approach the world. I’m probably not done adding to that list. I still have a lifetime of experiences and job classes to go through. And that’s okay.