Describe your ideal career

My ideal career, put simply, would be as a software developer. Now, there are tons of details within that. The first piece is connected to the technical restraints. When talking about computers the different operating systems are considered “platforms”, and each platform has to have one, but most have more than one, programming language in which to write code. The platforms I’d focus on are Mac OS X and the iPhone OS using the Objective-C programming language. My senior project is already starting me off on that. Another detail is in how I’d like to work. I’m the kind of person who would in the long run love to have his own full/successful development company. But I also understand how getting to that point involves working through sufficient years in college as well as being a successful component of some other software development company. As with anyone’s ideal career (hopefully…) I want to have fairly permanent job security and more importantly enjoy at least 90% of what I do. The security part is less in my control, but the enjoyment part is fully in my control. I’d love to be able to work without feeling like it’s work, and still get the satisfactions that come from having a sturdy job. The sad piece of this is that there is a very small chance of ever getting to experience my ideal career. Some of the reasons are linked to the economy, some to the amount of time it would take, some to demand, and most to my will. If it gets to the point where other paths become clear to me then this path is one I’d skip over and not look down ever again.