Five years ago, I walked in the doors of Critical Mass, having basically no idea what I was about to get myself into.
At the time, I wasn’t planning on being at Critical Mass that long. Chris and I had planned on going to Japan to teach English. (Only Chris ever made it there.) Somehow, I thought I’d stick around.
Until this job, I’d never thought I’d be at a company for more than two years. The longest job I’d been at was two years and one month, and that seemed like a long time.
Yesterday marked the end of my fifth year here, and today the beginning of my sixth. I don’t see any immediate end to my career here, and only an interesting future ahead of me.
Why am I still here after all this time? Why haven’t I moved on to greener pastures? One primary reason: there aren’t many pastures greener than here, and in Calgary, those pastures are exceedingly rare. There’s a lot of opportunity for me at Critical Mass, and I find that I’d be hard-pressed to do better elsewhere.
Besides, as something many people have noted over the years, it’s the people. The people who work here are what makes Critical Mass such a great place to work. I don’t have mere co-workers, I have friends. They’re not just colleagues, they’re partners-in-crime.
What can I say? The last five years have been a lot of fun. I’m curious to see what the next five years hold.
