I need to preface this by saying that while I’ve blogged through many major event in my life, what follows is not only major change but affects a number of people who have been my friends, peers, and coworkers for the last four years.
Over a week ago, I declared that my 24th birthday was going to be “most unremarkable”. Life, thankfully, has a way of making me eat my words.
Last year, while I was working remotely from Ithaca, I was making occasional trips into New York City to help out at the Freeverse office, usually during a time when the office was going to be short-handed. Somehow, in the middle of one of these trips – one in late June – I was pulled into a sudden interview at the Cornell Medical School. I wasn’t prepared, I wasn’t aware of what I was interviewing for, I was just there and trying my best.
Over the following year, a bizarre series of events continued to unfold at a slow rate – slow enough to simultaneously make me both anxious for resolution and to forget about the process entirely at times.
But, as you may have figured out by me now posting about this, the process has in fact come to an end.
I have been offered – and accepted – a position with the Office Of Academic Computing at the Cornell Medical Center. The position will have me playing a number of roles relating to the distance learning program for the school in Qatar.
To a number of people who are so used to me being a part of the Freeverse equation, I’m sure this comes as a bit of a shock. At the very least, it’s been a difficult concept to wrap my own head around, despite having done the mental math and seen that this is undoubtedly a good thing. Having been with Freeverse since March of 2000, there’s a large lump in my throat as I have to disconnect what’s been a fairly constant part of my life for the last four years. From the bizarre position of “distance intern”, through a drought, then back for occasional work, then to CTO, then to CTO/Webmaster, and then to some weird amalgamation of so many roles I would often make up new job titles as needed, I think I’ve probably done everything possible at one point or another. When you’ve been that entrenched in something, it’s hard to move on.
This is beginning to sound like a break up letter, isn’t it? I don’t want it to be read that way. I’ll still show up on GameSmith, I’ll still keep my ear in the Mac gaming industry, and I’ll still be willing to give you all the same shrill advice I’ve become known for over the last four years.
There are roughly a thousand people who I’d like to thank, and I think most of you are going to get yours over IM as I can’t possible drag this blog entry any longer.
But to Ian and Colin – you two took a ridiculous chance on a kid you didn’t know, and gave me so much more leeway and room to grow than I ever could’ve hoped for. You put up with my devotion for minutiae and went out of your way to help me out, and for all of this I am eternally grateful.
Clarifications:
I will not be leaving NYC, and I’m not moving back to Ithaca. The Cornell Medical School is on 69th & York Ave, in the Upper East Side. It’s actually closer to my current apartment than the Freeverse HQ is.
I will not be traveling to Qatar. Incidently, It’s pronounced “Cutter”, not “kah-tar”. I still consistently get it wrong.