2021 marked a new stage in life: working at my first full-time job that’s “long-term” (in the sense that it’s not just for the summer). Life feels much different than it did in college - primarily, it’s a feeling that the world has finally starting demanding responsibility from me - likely due to the combination of having a job and having a relationship and no longer having my college comrades down the street for whatever shenanigans we would have gotten into. At the same time, the world (and I) got vaccines for COVID-19, and the Omicron variant is making it clear being done with COVID isn’t happening anytime soon. Overall, this year was a great way to wrap up my college experience and start a new one, even if the environment around me is as hectic as ever.
Progress on 2021 goals
Continue being active - Peloton mentions that I logged 3,900-ish minutes on the platform, which is likely the best metric I have for this, even though it doesn’t include activity off of the app (e.g. runs, bike rides, or hikes). My Apple Watch is the best means of tracking activity (since I always wear it), but that’s also imperfect (as it frequently gives me ghost activity calories / minutes) and it lacks a convenient “Year in Review” summary. I imagine Apple will be adding that soon. In any case, the activity level is a bit lower than it should have been, and I could have been more consistent with my exercise habits. I’ll give myself a B-/C+ on this.
Continue to grow relationships with people - I’d say I feel pretty great about the new friends I’ve made at my new job - it’s the highlight of working at a consultancy, since (a) your same-level coworkers are your age, and (b) there’s dozens of them. Even the folks who are a rank or two above you are pretty young in the grand scheme of things. I’m super grateful that I’ve found a great group of friends at my new job. A.
Professionally - I definitely had a rough start to my job, and don’t think that I hit the ground running. That said, it sounds like I’ve had a pretty normal experience, and that most folks struggle for the first few months (I’ve heard repeatedly that the first six months to a year are the adjustment period). I think the was my biggest struggle in 2021, as I went from an environment (college) where I was really good at what I did without much effort to an environment (BCG) where I was decidedly not killing it. Nevertheless, I’m sure with time and experience I’ll be able to get more comfortable at the job. I’ll give myself a C for “average”, given that I’m not likely doing that much worse or better than most people would have in my situation.
Do fun and interesting things - I did a decent job of continuing to cook throughout college, and my summer trip to Europe was quite awesome. While it doesn’t feel like I’ve done much in the way of “new” things since I started my job - most of my time at this stage is working, hanging out, eating out, or going out - reading through the highlights below indicate that I’m not fully giving myself credit for the experiences that I’ve had. I’d give myself a B+ on this front, only because of the unrealistic expectations around being able to try things while working.
Being a good person - again, I don’t really know how to measure this. I’d like to think that I’m improving overall (especially as a result of my relationship), and I was finally able to really start donating larger amounts of money as a result of having steady income from a job. I’ll excuse myself from a grade here, if only because I think it’s very difficult to grade your own behavior.
Highlights from 2021
I started off the year with a road trip to White Sands, Guadalupe Peak, Carlsbad Caverns, and Big Bend. We hiked along Big Bend’s Chisos Mountains Trails, and the view from the South Rim was incredible.
My college roommates and I got really, really efficient at meal prepping, and we ended up getting some really solid options in our Notion page that we used to track recipes.
The Texas Freeze happened, which was very fun for the first couple of days until it wasn’t. This was another instance of the world around me going to hell while I was doing fine (not that I’m complaining, but it is a weird feeling).
I started playing basketball with a group of guys on Fridays, which morphed into a social group that was one of the highlights of my last semester in college.
I went camping at San Angelo State Park over Spring Break. I won’t elaborate on details, but the overall trip was super enjoyable.
My roommates and I adopted a dog, Omega - a chocolate lab + golden retriever mix that melted our hearts. We took him for a few surgeries, and he ended up getting adopted right on time before we got kicked out of our apartment…
The apartment complex that I was in decided to perform renovations in the middle of the year, so I ended up staying in a hotel for two weeks as our apartment got torn apart. We ended up getting a lawyer for the mass action lawsuit, and haven’t heard back much.
I went and saw Dave Chapelle perform live in Austin, which turned out to be his now famous/infamous The Closer special. It was worth every penny (despite the ticket being hundreds of dollars).
I presented my thesis, wrapped up the Senior Design Project (not that I really did that much for this), and graduated from UT with my three degrees (which I do not regret), and did not jump in the fountain (which I do regret). Thanks to UT for giving me (so far) the best five years of my life. Hook ‘em, horns!
Some buddies and I went to Spain, France, and Switzerland for our graduation trip. We hit up Andalusia, Madrid, the Basque region, Barcelona, Marseille, Geneva, Interlaken, and Paris - all for surprisingly cheap. I discovered doughnut peaches, phenomenal olive oil, the incredible Sagrada Familia, the beautiful Calanques, a very lovely Parisian cafe with a lovely grandmother behind it, and jazz clubs.
I started working, and was able to do a cooking class, attend an Astros game, take a Barry’s Bootcamp class (too loud, though I did a few Peloton bootcamp sessions after that), show up to the back half of the Greek festival, and “organize” (text people a time and place to meet) a couple other events that were decent fun.
For the Labor Day weekend, I went with my girlfriend to Chicago, which was an absolute blast to see the city that I loved so much (if you haven’t been, I strongly believe that it’s the best city to be in during the summer).
I attended a wonderful Glass Animals concert that I thought was pretty incredible.
I made several trips out to SF to visit my girlfriend, during which I hiked around Lands End, visited the Japanese Tea Garden, ran the back half of the SF Marathon, hiked around Taylor State Park in Marin, drove the Pacific Coast Highway, and explored a new city (which I do think is somewhat overrated).
I flew to Dallas for a half week for a work event, during which I saw a new side of corporate America’s excess. No but doesn’t bring just the food for catering, they also bring the chef.
The BCG A’s did a retreat out to Austin, which was amazing. It’s interesting to be back at the ol’ stomping grounds for a weekend.
I finished off my first case for work, which I found less than spectacular. I stated my second case for work, which I found exciting, fun, and all of the things that they tell you during the recruiting session.
I traveled to Colorado Springs with my parents for a few days and ate amazing burgers and hiked around some amazing places. We drove to the top of Pike’s Peak! Afterwards, I went skiing at Copper Mountain (phenomenal, and by far better than Brock) and remembered (as I do every year) that I enjoy skiing.
how i’ll grow in 2022
Physically, I’d like to add a bit of muscle mass on - I’ve targeted 180 pounds (currently, I’m about 160), though I’d like the gains to be muscle. I probably ought to get an accurate lab measurement of body fat percentage both now and toward the end of the year for curiosity’s sake. Beyond that, I’d also like to try and hit 7,000 minutes that year on Peloton - just under 20 minutes on average per day, which sounds completely doable even with a work schedule.
Socially, I’d like to further develop my social life in Houston - both in terms of the social circle I have with my coworkers, and also in terms of a non-work circle of friends. I’ll also want to invest time into my relationship, so hopefully I’ll be able to see my girlfriend about once a month.
Professionally, I want to get “good” at my job, which mostly means getting comfortable. I’m not sure where it’ll take me, but my hope is that I’ll (fairly) soon I’ll be able to start having more say in what projects that I work on.
Continue to focus on being a good person, and overall ensuring that what I give to the world is in excess of what I take.
I want to make sure that I don’t lose my love for the outdoors - this is tougher now that I’m working instead of being in college, and it’s tougher still since I live in Houston. Nonetheless, I’d like to try and make sure that I make time this year for going outside and camping and hiking every now and then.
things to ponder
Once I reach my one-year mark at BCG, several options (including transferring offices!) are on the table. What I will choose to do then will likely will a very important decision, so it’s one that I should ensure I’ve made carefully.