sacha chua :: living an awesome life

I won't be going to the Free Software and Open Source Symposium tomorrow because I'm meeting Stephen Perelgut and a possible mentor for lunch.

I'm really lucky to know people like Stephen Perelgut, who reminded me in his e-mail:

And, for the record, you are in a rush. You may not know it yet, but you're very ready for a mentor. Just accept that the inner-parent in me "knows".

I need a mentor. I need more than one mentor, actually. If I'm thinking of being in Canada for a while, I'll need a whole new personal board of directors. I miss talking to my parents, my godparents, and other people back home. It's hard to talk about everything, though, because so much context is missing. I can't blog everything, and it's hard to explain things over the Internet! I need people I can talk to here.

I'm growing rapidly, and opportunities unfold everywhere I turn. I need to make sure that I'm growing sustainably and in the right direction(s). I have a lot of hats on at the moment, and I'm having a hard time fully living up to some roles. Here's what's on my plate:

• Graduate student (MIE1402, KMD2004)
• Researcher (IBM CAS project, University of Toronto)
• IBM 2.0 evangelist - I could do a whole lot more than I am right now
• Graduate House Council member - sustainable
• VP Education, Toastmasters - I don't do enough to help out with this
• Daughter, sister - I don't keep in touch well enough
• Friend - I don't keep in touch well enough

And somewhere in there is the networking I also care about and love doing...

I have a number of goals, too, and I need help figuring out which goals really matter to me and how I can go about accomplishing them. My short-term goals are easy to figure out:

• Finish my schoolwork.
• Finish my thesis.

But I'm not spending all my waking hours doing these things because I'm also trying to build a few more things before I need them. An excellent professional and personal network. A personal brand. Useful skills.

I remember how my very first roommate finished her project with CAS, looked up, and found herself without any job offers despite having a MS from the University of Toronto. I don't think I'll be in that situation, and even if I were, I have confidence in my contingency plans. (I can do a lot of cool stuff in the Philippines!) So it's not that I'm in a rush to do all of these things, to write that bestselling book, etc. I know there's time.

I have to admit, though, that it's *very* hard to resist the urge to focus on things outside my short-term goals. I feel that I could make such a difference if I concentrate on, say, IBM 2.0 evangelism: pour myself into it, devote my energies to it, make it happen. I feel that the time would be right for such things, too. Thanks to the constant reminders of my research manager (Hi Julie!) and the occasional restraining hand placed on my head (Stephen's figured out how to get me to stop bouncing, at least temporarily), I do manage to resist it. Barely.

This is one of the reasons why I really need a board of directors whom I can tell about opportunities, ask for advice, think things out loud with, hold myself accountable to...

And I'm surrounded by wonderful, wonderful, wonderful people whom I am glad to have as part of my life and whom I would love to include in whatever successes I may have.

Quinn Fung, Dan Howard, and Jed Smith have taught me so much about love and friendship. I owe them big time.

Stephen Perelgut is practically on my board already, what with all his help and support. I'm really, really grateful for his help.

Gabriel Mansour has volunteered to be on my board. He's my crazy-idea go-to person who can enthuse about my crazy ideas and help me figure out how to make things happen.

Ian Garmaise has taught me a lot about networking and speaking, and I look forward to learning more from him.

There are others, but it's 2 in the morning and I need to sleep at some point. =) And of course, there's my extended circle of mentors, and that could include you reading my blog: thank you for putting up with my random thoughts and telling me about everything from how to prepare really good oatmeal to free software evangelism opportunities!

So yeah, I need a board of directors. They don't have to read my blog (I write way too much), but I'd like to keep in touch with them quarterly at least. Probably monthly, as I'm changing so much. I need that help as I'm growing. I also need to find role models who have succeeded at the things I want to do, so that I can learn from their insights...

I'm 23 years old. I haven't quite figured out life yet. With your help and theirs, I'm slowly getting there.

E-Mail from Stephen Perelgut

On Technorati: life, reflection, career

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