Weird feeling
I’m currently going through a weird feeling I’m sure many have on this forum. Worked really hard for the last year and a half to get an IB offer (non target kid just tried my best to get better throughout it all). Finally got an offer, had a surreal feeling when I heard how much I was going to be paid and realized I’d make more in one summer than I’ve made in my entire life. I’m very grateful but was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and when it kinda wore off? Still in awe about 48 hours later.
Congrats bud!
It wears off pretty quickly as you have to focus on other things, but there is a small part of relief that sticks even once the excitement has worn off. Particularly when you go back senior year and classmates are still struggling through job searches while you can relax and truly enjoy college.
Enjoy and appreciate the summer, you deserve it. Just don't get your identity too wrapped up in being in IB, because it'll definitely wear off a few months into FT
Same boat as you, got my dream offer for 2023 and now its hard to feel super motivated to study for finals and care about my classes, especially the bs ones. My recommendation would be to celebrate and enjoy the moment, but once your done with that use the extra time you have to invest in your college experience, whether it be grades, clubs, friends, etc. You never know if you’ll need to draw on your college connections and achievements later down the road in a future job interview. The first thing I wanted to do after I got my offer was to go to a remote island and not have a single thought about finance for the next two weeks but having to real myself back in so I don’t do bad on finals.
Congrats man! I’m in the exact same boat. Grinded like you did for over a year to get a 2023 SA offer last month. Worked my ass off and when the offer came, i didn’t know what to feel.
The one thing I’ve realized is that life goes on. For whatever reason I thought that once I got my offer, my life would be infinitely better (not the case lol, It’s pretty much the same).
I thought it would feel way better (don’t get me wrong, It feels great to have an offer)…but I thought it would bring me a ton of joy. Instead, it’s just more of a feeling of relief that I didn’t fail, not that much joy lol.
Congrats on the offer! Could you please suggest the materials you used to prepare for technicals to get an offer? There are plenty of information out there of course on the subject but still wouldn’t hurt to ask it again. Thanks!
"Identity theft is not a joke Jim"
Happiness from external events is temporary. Happiness from within is permanent.
You're on the 1st one. Focus on the 2nd one.
Not sure why this got MS, this is a very valid point (although use of the word permanent wouldn't be my first choice). People have a happiness setpoint and rarely veer from it in the long term from external events. Studies show that after major life events, like marriage, graduating, getting a big job, etc. there is a temporary boost to happiness, but eventually you come back to your setpoint. Most of this is due to the nature of our adaptive mind, we are very good at getting used to our surroundings (as an evolutionary benefit it comes in handy when you are forced to move/camp/whatever in a new area) so anything that happens to us quickly becomes our new normal and we fall back to our internal modes of behavior. This is most commonly exhibited as "lifestyle creep", aka the hedonic treadmill: you achieve a certain standard of living, become used to it, get bored, spend more money adding to your lifestyle, rinse and repeat.
There are ways of increasing your internal setpoint, often through behavioral and meditative techniques (reducing your stress, improving self-awareness, eating healthy, exercising, etc.) but external factors rarely lead to sustained happiness unless it also initiates a more internal process, too.
Didn't elaborate it too much. I got the idea from an open course at Harvard held by Tal Ben-Shahar, "Positive Psychology".
In the course, he presents a study where people which got their dream job, bought a new house, got accepted in their dream college, etc., after around 3 months their state of happiness returned to normal (prior to the event). The idea was that your internal state of happiness can be only maximized when you take risks, when you try new things and when you do things which scare you. Among others, the anticipation of a reward brings us a lot more dopamine than the reward per se. So isn't rocket science OP's feeling.
The MS may be from a 16 years old hardo. No hard feelings to him, all my best.
Ugh. I can smell the patchouli from here.
The happiness is very temporary, but worse when you realize that no one cares. Enjoy it while it lasts because once you start you realize that your ambition will just lead you to different (albeit better) problems.
Buy your boys a round of drinks!
"But what is happiness? It's a moment before you need more happiness." - Don Draper
Get a friend in prop trading and realize how much more they will be making working 1/3 the hours you will be pulling
Hi WalnutBrain,
I was in this same situation but then I've come up with an idea which not just changed my mood but also my life. I've decided back then to not rely on my salary so, I've started a side hustle (eCommerce store) and it turned out to be my best decision I've ever made. I suggest you do the similar as well. Have a good fortune.
Google hedonic adaptation. To sum it up it’s the theory that after an event that makes you super happy your normal baseline shifts and you just feel back to normal again after an x amount of time.
Try to focus more on long term happiness and accomplishing your long term goals now (or whatever you think is your purpose).
Also, I’m in a similar boat as you are with low GPA and fear of getting no offers. Your story is an inspiration man.
Congrats. Be sure to celebrate.
As someone who is starting FT in the summer, my advice is to act as a leader for the rest of your time in college by offering to help others achieve similar things.
This doesn't just apply to helping others land internships in IB. Help friends and colleagues with their resumes and prepare for interviews.
I did this a lot the past year and not only did it make me feel really good, but it made many of my friends respect me a lot more.
This is great advice! Thank you
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