I'm 22 and will be gradating from a well respected university with an engineering degree and 1 year of industrial experience by the time I'm 23. I've recently got out of a relationship that wasn't going anywhere, which really frees up the future in terms of possibilities. My plan is now to apply to grad school, if I get in okay (I never planned on going, but I'm doing research in a lab now and it seems like something I might enjoy) if not I'll do what I had planned on before applying to jobs across canada and moving to wherever seems like a good idea.

It's hard to tell if people around you are truly happy, for the most part they just seem bored if they aren't going through some sort of immediate struggle. And some of them seem to thrive on hardship. Maybe it's because there isn't much consequence for failure if you know you can rely on your parents as a safety net. Others without such well off parents do seem more exhausted, independence comes with the huge tax of personal responsibility.

I've been lucky with the timing for many aspects of my life. I've also attribute a lot of my success to my parents who have been supportive but not overbearing. My dad has instilled the value of hard work in me; he grew up relatively poor and did everything he could to make it to middle/upper-middle class. I'm naturally good with math and remembering things; but anyone can tell you that if you don't put in the effort, raw talent won't get you too far. You need a paper so you can make some paper (with those skills anyways).

It's not all Benjamins and rainbows though, it's very easy to get cocky when you've lead a privileged life. I find my self that happiest and most pleasant to be around simply being quite and humble. And the easiest way to stay humble is to think about how mortal you are. Despite being an all around great guy, I've been having these episodes where, for 3-4 weeks at a time, several times a day, I get that feeling you get after being kicked in the balls, just a dull aching pressure like a toddler that doesn't know their own strength is squeezing your right nut for hours at a time. I've gone to the ER the first time and they said it was a hydrocele, pretty benign and goes away on its own, although it's still fairly uncommon for a guy my age. Whenever it happens I just go to the ER, get an ultra sound to make sure my balls still work and wait it out. I'm actually going to see a specialist later this week about it but that's a whole different story. The point is nothing hurts on my body right now, I can breath normally, my testies don't feel mangled and I don't have any large back zits making it uncomfortable to lay around. I'm happy and knowing that things could get worst for no reason makes me humble.