## Working draft of professional story (1-2 paragraphs)

I started my first year of college with no major, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I knew the significance of the decision. I didn't want to make a choice too quickly, and give myself grief later on. Eventually, Philosophy as my major was a twofold choice. One, because I thought I would go to law school. And two, because I already really enjoyed spending a long time thinking on complex problems, even when most of the time they had no real "answer". It helped me develop my thinking and it also helped me as a person, forming my own ethics.

In college, I travelled to Scotland and Japan. They were fantasy places from my childhood and I wanted to experience them in reality as an adult. (to be continued. this is a draft, have mercy)

After college I intended on taking a year off before I put myself through the ringer again. I wanted to travel again. I wanted to go back to Japan, specifically. And I did. Just not really in the way I expected. My 'vacation from school' turned into...an intensive language study in Tokyo, Japan for nine months. Not only was it more school, it was like THE MOST school. There was a reason they called it an intensive study. It was the hardest thing I've ever done (and yes I'm including Turing already). Learning a language in it's native country is like studying something and then leaving the classroom to discover that everything else you have to do that day is also in this thing you just studied. When the convenience store clerk asks you if you want your food microwaved for you and you don't remember the word for 'microwave', you just have to stand there awkwardly staring at him until he waves towards said machine and you finally piece it together. Imagine having to write Javascript to go to the convenience store and buy a chocolate bar. That was studying in Japan. It was glorious.