what would’ve happened if i had never joined partyapp.com, waaay back when, in 2004? an offshoot of campusblender.com and partyincollege.com, partyapp.com consumed far too many hours of my life, but it also SERIOUSLY changed it for the better.
i just think it’s crazy how something so seemingly small as a ridiculously wild, twisted, and quirky web forum can do so much for so many people.
a bunch of my friends who already went to ASU were members, and they talked about it as if it was THE message board to be on. so, as soon as i got my acceptance letter from appalachian in the summer of 2004, i joined partyapp. you actually had to have a university .edu e-mail address to register. we were OH so legit. :wink:
anyway, i signed up. and like… within days, i got messages from 2 guys on there. 2 guys who are still close friends of mine, 6 years later. they would turn out to be my coworkers for the next few years at ASU technical support–stephen and rob.
if not for partyapp, i never would have met them.
and i never would have…
- gone to tech. support and asked for a job (the guys told their boss (HI JAMES! :cute: ) to hire me)
- gone to see some of the MOST awesome 80s metal concerts (james, you changed my life!)
- majored in computer information systems (i was going to major in CS but tech. support convinced me otherwise!)
- been force fed Linux my freshman year of college (i enjoyed it, really, but rob is… strong-willed, lol)
- joined the ASU Gaming Club (where i met some of my favorite people ever!)
- joined the Appalachian Linux Users Group (ALUG) and been consumed by even more geekery
- joined AITP (which totally changed my life, will explain momentarily)
if i hadn’t joined the gaming club, i wouldn’t have met more of the ALUG-ers.
if i hadn’t met the other ALUG-ers, i wouldn’t have had the balls to attend the ALUG meetings. period. i was terrified. don’t ask me why.
if i hadn’t gotten involved in ALUG, i wouldn’t have met MORE of my favorite people in the world. one of which happens to be this weird guy named chris. who moved to texas with his also-weird wife. who i also love.
if i hadn’t met chris, i never would have gotten into information security because a) the words information and security had never crossed my mind at the time, and b) i had no idea that ASU even had anything to do with information security.
if rob hadn’t convinced me to join AITP (sidenote: when i was a freshman/sophomore, i had promised myself i’d never ever wear a suit, AITP requires the wearing of suits from time to time (and real jobs do too, go figure, right?), i was not having any of it), i never would have met even MORE amazing people (hello, fellow CIS-ers, i miss you, my extended family).
i wouldn’t have known to go to the job fairs. i wouldn’t have interviewed with like… 7 companies. i wouldn’t have gotten my job at honeywell (or even KNOWN about honeywell!). so i definitely wouldn’t be working where i am now.
even more importantly, i wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become the president of one of the best clubs in appalachian state history, where i would meet the love of my life, my best friend, my soul mate, my roommate, my other half, my JOOSE! partner, who just so happens to ALSO hate sweet potatoes.
thank you, partyapp. thank you, rob and stephen. thank you, james. thank you, chris. thank you to every single person who guided me in the right direction over the last 6 years. i could not imagine being anywhere else right now. :cry: