When I first heard about this new platform called Steemit, I was highly skeptical – how could it be possible for somebody – anybody – to develop a following online simply by recounting their life’s events and by offering their humble opinions on the current issues of the world. Then it hit me: this is the Internet we’re talking about. In the spirit of this new age in which this all seems to be possible, here’s my introduction. Right now we’re all strangers, but given a little time hopefully we can get to know each other better.
Right, let’s get started. I’m currently eighteen years old and living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I moved here from Ottawa exactly two weeks ago today, to jump on the train that is adult life. This next train car, if you’ll humour me and follow my “absurdly pretentious” metaphor, is university. I’m a first-year student in the Faculty of Arts at UBC, looking to major in economics.
The decision to pick UBC and move to Vancouver came in a series of steps. Firstly, it offers a program that interested me greatly – majoring in econ, as mentioned earlier – at UBC’s Vancouver School of Economics. Secondly, as an avid skier for the most recent 15 odd years of my life, the call to the West Coast was somewhat inevitable. The surrounding mountains provide ample opportunity for me to get out and ski in my free time, even just for an hour or two – sometimes it helps me to clear my head if I’m feeling stressed or worried.
As of a couple of years ago (sometime during ninth grade) I also fell in love with mountain biking. It all started with a small jump made out of leftover wood from the renovation of my house that my friends and I would ride over. Our eight-year-old selves felt pretty good about that, for better or for worse. In any case, this evolved into some light trail riding in the following years, until what is coming up on three years now that I got more heavily into the sport. Pictured here, I picked up a new bike (my old one was falling apart and was at that point where the cost of repairs exceeded the value of the bike itself).
Over the last couple of years I’ve come to appreciate all the more the endeavours of what you might call “large-scale game-changers,” such as Elon Musk, for example. Beyond my interest in economics, I’ve got a passion for entrepreneurship, which makes Musk a hugely inspirational figure for me. Having read his biography, by Ashlee Vance (check it out if you’re into that sort of thing, or even if you’re not – I didn’t used to be – it’s what got me hooked on biographies), I’ve developed a healthy respect for everything that he’s been able to accomplish. The biggest thing about Musk, for me, is that he goes in with the intention of making a difference – not a profit. I think, largely, that this is what makes him so successful. The guy made $180 million from the sale of one of his earlier companies, and he subsequently invested all of it into his next three: Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity (which is now a branch of Tesla).
Some of my other interests have been volleyball, volunteering, and public speaking, but more on that later, because this is getting a bit long for a bunch of people that don’t know me. To summarise: a lot like Musk was looking for something other than a profit via his companies, I’m looking for more than a couple of upvotes through Steemit. This online group seems to be a great way to get good ideas out there and spark some fascinating discussions on all the things that interest me now and in the future. If I can borrow one more thing from Musk, “When something is important enough, you do it…Even if the odds are not in your favor.” I suppose that’s what this is. I’m taking a chance on it, so here’s hoping it takes a chance on me. Can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say.
Cheers, guys.
Credit for the pictures of me goes to Rebecca Thompson (