[travisgriggs]

I enjoyed reading this. The long form was engaging. I appreciate the author being up front about not trying to be prescriptive with his journey, more just descriptive.

Honestly, the sense of despair people have in getting jobs is so sad to me. I've interacted with other young adults who are in the same situation. This sense of "I played the game the way I thought I was supposed to and now this??". I do all I can to help them connect them with others, but it's still really disappointing.

I was glad he "made it" in the end, but I'm not convinced that "near mental breakdowns" are healthy and worth it. And then... survivorship bias. For every talented person like this that excels academically and has a flair for long for story telling, there's another 9 or 99, that don't, and are still stuck in the trenches, and they don't even have the time/resources to write their equally emotive but even more shitty story.

[EconoBen]

I wish I could emphasize this comment more. Thank you for posting this. This reflects my thoughts exactly and the purpose of the post. There are so many more people whose stories you don't hear, who go through much harder times than I did, and who do not "make it" like I have.

If anything, I think that should be the story. You make choices to try to dig yourself out, and you end up digging yourself further down the hole.