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The time my dad said I was just 'good with computers'
He said it offhand when I was 17, helping him fix his printer, and it made me realize I was letting other people define my skills. I went from thinking IT was just a hobby to signing up for a certification course the next month. Anyone else have a casual comment that suddenly reframed your whole path?
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beth_singh3mo ago
Honestly, it's wild how often this happens. People just toss out these labels without thinking. Like my friend who kept getting called "the creative one" at her office job, so they stuck her with making all the posters forever. It makes you realize you have to push back and name your own skills, or you get stuck in a box someone else built.
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nancyj113mo ago
Funny how those little comments stick with you. My uncle once called me the "family tech support hotline" at a barbecue, and it hit me that I was just the free help. Signed up for a proper IT program that fall, mostly out of spite.
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corablack1mo ago
Oh I feel that spite so much. My aunt introduced me as "the one who always has her nose in a book" at a family dinner and it hit me that she meant it as a joke about me being antisocial, not praising my reading habit. I went and joined a local book club that week just to prove I could be social while reading. It actually worked out great. Sometimes you need that little spark of annoyance to push you into something better for yourself.
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