One thing that has been on my mind a lot since deciding that I was going to work as a developer is figuring out where to work. I am actually not super interested in living in a big city, I like being close to nature and at some point in time I would like to be able to buy my own house, it shouldn't be too lonely but I do want an ocean or lake view and some woods around nearby. But some jobs just naturally congregate in big cities, not in small towns. Jobs in the IT field are definitely like this, which put me in quite a rough spot. How can I get the job I want and at the same time the home life I want?
It honestly took me years to figure this out, but I finally have. The answer I've come to is: You have to compromise, because you will not be able to get all of any of these things. In a small town I will have less options as far as jobs go, and in a big city I will probably not get to live in the sort of place I dream of.
Compromise is key. It's a sad reality, but I guess I've finally accepted it after so long. There is always going to be a part of me who wonders if I picked the right career simply because of the fact that I am not looking for a city life. But I do love programming and I do not regret choosing this field of study, so I just have to live with the fact that because I chose it some subsequent decisions, altough seemingly unrelated, have to be based on this one.
So what I've decided to do is focus on 2 towns. One is smaller, the other one a bit bigger but by no means as big as Gothenburg or Stockholm. These towns are strategically placed for me, being in the middle of Sweden and "close" to where my parents live so that I would visit sometimes during weekends. I am not sure the smaller town will have enough jobs, but it it doesn't I can always move to the one which is a big bigger.
These 2 towns are by no means where I planned to end up when I first came back to Sweden to study. I always looked to the south of Sweden; Uppsala, Gothenburg, Lund, Malmö and so on. For a long time since I started living in Gothenburg I thought I might just live there my whole life! That has changed though, as much as I have loved living in Gothenburg, and there are so many IT companies here that I would like to try to work for, I don't think I can stay for more than a few years because it doesn't mix with my idea of how I want my home life. Therefore I have to leave eventually and settle down elsewhere.
My life hasn't always been the easiest or funnest but ever since Gymnasiet it has been consistently pretty great, with ups and downs of course but I managed. What I am trying to say is that I guess I haven't had to compromise a lot in my life, I haven't had to take decisions where choosing one thing means sacrificing another. It's been comfortable, which means I haven't learned or accepted yet that in my future I will have to compromise and sacrifice. No matter what you choose to do, where you choose to live, there will always be bad sides to it. Somehow I never really thought of things in this way before, I am almost 25 years old but I realize I am still young in many ways.
Another reason for taking so long to finally decide where I should live in the future was the feeling of "failure", which is stupid, but I felt like I had to be in one of the big cities: Stockholm, Göteborg, Uppsala, Malmö, or else I had failed as someone who is aiming high. This is very stupid, I am aware, but feelings come up sometimes without us wanting them to, right? It was hard for me to accept that I would not be in any of these cities if I wanted to make some other dreams come true. Work is not everything. Work life balance is important, so you have to live somewhere that can bring you the most happy things.
So, what do I want: A job in IT (as a web developer or possibly in another fun field), a house, lots of nature, nice winters, to be able to visit my family often, and so on...
What I have to sacrifice: Job opportunities, big city fun, ease of traveling, and so on...
It might not seem like a lot, we are really on "first world country problem" level here, but these are the silly kinds of things that keep me up at night, so I am glad I finally have some resolution in where to live, and I am willing to sacrifice for it.
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