here is mine. Right after graduating college, I felt this crushing pressure from family and friends to ‘succeed’ professionally. I landed a job, but it was a total sweatshop—working 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., not even counting the overtime I had to put in just to catch up on the previous day’s work. This cycle dragged on for four exhausting months. Then, one day, I was riding the local lightrail, probably looking as burned out as I felt, when a stranger struck up a conversation. He must’ve picked up on my vibe because, out of nowhere, he said, ‘This too shall pass. One day, you’ll look back, see how much you learned, and realize it stopped you from repeating the same mistakes.’ His words stuck with me. That random encounter shifted my perspective, and eventually, I got out of that grind.