I had another great dental visit today! See, what Andy did this time was —

Just kidding. I’m not gonna write ANOTHER dentist post. Truth is, I’m feeling something embarrassment-like that in my 2 weeks of vacation, I went to a dentist THREE TIMES, four if you count the morning I returned to the 1st (scammer) dentist to pick up my x-rays from the day before. Who takes vacations like this?!

Sitting in Andy’s dental chair the past 2 days did get me thinking, though. I’ve got some crazy-successful friends. These are people I grew up with, and we were all along the same path when we were younger. For example, I went to elementary, junior high and/or high school with MOH Vicky, dentist Andy, godbro Jim, friend Lily. Dentist Andy, godbro Jim, roommate/bridesmaid Diana and I attended the same college. (Go Bruins!) And then I veered off and got into the court system job that I have now, while MOH Vicky attended USC Pharmacy School, bridesmaid Diana attended UC Berkeley Law School and dentist Andy attended NYU Dental School, friend Lily attended Medical School at UC Riverside and UCLA. Now, I’m STILL in the same dead-end low-prestige court system job, Andy now has a thriving dental practice in Pasadena, Vicky is a high-paid pharmacist with company car and expense accounts, Diana is an Intellectual Property attorney in a prestigious NorCal Law Firm, Lily is a medical doctor specializing in radiology, and Jim went on to found Formula Drift car racing. Somehow, racing shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of ’em, I sat down and wiggled my butt into the ground comfortably before reaching the finish line, making my own personal finish perhaps prematurely.

But do I regret anything? Given the chance, would I go back to grad school? No. I’m just complacent, I guess, and I’m actually fine with where I am. I guess my personal achievements are just gonna have to be things that are not dollar-sign or prestige oriented. Like, my day-to-day happiness is pretty high. I’m pretty content with who I am and have become. I’m proud of my interpersonal relationships. I tend to be respected among my colleagues and friends. There’s gotta be a reason why my accomplished friends still treat me like an equal, still come to me for advice, still go above and beyond (typically) in their support of me when I’m in need. Maybe I’ve chosen for my friendship circle wonderful people who don’t forget “us little people” when they get successful. But I’d like to think that it’s cuz professional accomplishments aside, I’m a great entertaining person who writes a great blog, goshdarnit.