Last month, I started a new job working as a fullstack software engineer at ClassDojo.

This was an interesting job transition for me. It was the first time I got caught up in layoffs and the first time that I ended up with multiple job offers to choose from.

As I weighed the decisions in front of me, I was reminded of an illustration from Tim Urban (of Wait but Why), that captured my feelings perfectly:

My job offers revealed the beginnings of several wildly diverging paths, which reminded me that a future of diverse opportunities remained stretched out in front of me. What an exciting thing to contemplate.

When I was in college, my roommates and I had a running joke. Whenever some tiny setback would occur, one of us would smile and say “the good times are over.” The absurdity of it got us laughing, because we had our whole lives ahead of us. Clearly, things were going to be ok.

These days, “the good times are over” is a common narrative in the world—treated seriously, not as a joke. It can be tempting to fall into that way of thinking.

But if we could see more clearly, we’d realize that a world of branching opportunities still stretches out before us, both individually and collectively. One of the key reasons I chose ClassDojo was because I saw a team that was full of energy and optimism for the future ahead. That’s a river I want to swim in.

I’m excited to see where this path leads.