Something you've done that you're proud of

[AsurasEyes]

I was talking to a fellow Escapist, and I mentioned how I work with Mexican day-laborers and at a used game store despite being 16, not spending my money on a gaming PC so I can buy my ticket back to my home city of Chicago and afford all the presents I intend to give my friends. And I realize how much it sounds like I'm bragging, but I just feel incredibly proud of myself, since most of my younger years were spent stealing my single mother's money to feed my multiple addictions. I'm doing something selfless for once in my life, and I feel like I might be a halfway decent human being for once in my life.

I'm nihilistic towards humans at times, believing that we're just inherently evil, yet that makes us interesting and gives us room to improve, otherwise we'd just be sitting in a dull grey
sludge, making no effort to change ourselves. But there are times that I want to see exactly how good humans can be. Unironically.

So, Escapists, what have you done that you feel truly proud of?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

16 year old nihilist...

Where have I heard that one before?


OT: Hmm, I don't really have anything I'm proud of.

I'm kind of just drifting through life, with no real direction...

 

[StylinBones]

Traveled halfway across the globe by myself. I flew in planes, so it's not like I was in a hot air balloon, but plenty of people don't have the ambition or balls to do it, so I'm proud of myself. YOLO.

P.S. I ate a frog while I was there. Boom!

 

[chaser5000]

I joined the Army, I don't leave for boot camp until January.

 

[uzo]

Hrmm ... I was manager of an office where staff spoke English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish; and I had to act as the intermediary through any conflicts or disagreements throughout this range of cultural and linguistic anarchy.

Somehow, I managed it. And pretty well apparently. People were trying to transfer in to my branch from across the country, and there was a ridiculous waiting list for transfer hopefuls (it felt like it got to the point of people having to die before you could transfer in).

Did I mention I was 23 years old?

Some of the staff had been in that business for 20+ years - they'd been doing that job longer than I'd been able to spell my own name, and I was their boss, and they were happy.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention. Before I started, it was the 'bad' branch. It was where the company put people who were union firebrands, chronic truants, or washed up alcoholics. Basically, the ones they couldn't legally fire but wanted to. I was the newly promoted manager, and I guess the regional manager thought it would be interesting to throw a newbie in there - trial by VOLCANIC INFERNO perhaps.

I'll admit, straight off there were clashes, but I lead by example and wasn't (read: couldn't) a rules nazi. If people did their job, good. I encouraged it. If they didn't *exactly* tow company policy, I let it slide. Most of that was bureaucratic nonsense anyway, cooked up by someone trying in vain to justify their time at university spending daddy's money. Seriously, whether someone uses a red pen or a green pen to tick a box has no bearing (I checked - there was *no* reason) on efficiency; photographs of family and friends on desks DO NOT REDUCE PRODUCTIVITY BY CAUSING DISTRACTION. Hell, it increases productivity by boosting morale and encouraging communication between staff (the Spanish guy likes the look of the Korean's guy's sister? Great! Start a conversation about it - although Koreans can be pretty protective - I oughta know, my wife is Korean).

As a side note, my personality type is ENTP.

 

[Joseph Harrison]

16 year old nihilist...

Where have I heard that one before?


OT: Hmm, I don't really have anything I'm proud of.

I'm kind of just drifting through life, with no real direction...

Your post count is over 20,000, that's certainly impressive.

OT: I volunteered as a counselor at a summer camp for 4 weeks. Also whenever I learn a song on the bass. Umm.... I've traveled to Turkey, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, The Carribean and across the country from MA to CA and AZ in the US. ALso I flew to California and back by myself when I was only 16.

Still haven't kissed a girl though...

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I won a Heroes of Newerth competition and got an Alienware keyboard.

Sure it wasn't against any real professional teams, and I had my team pull my extremely unfair "OMGWTFBBQ" strategy in the finals (which helped us win game two as well actually) but I'm proud of it, damn it!

 

[Euryalus]

I'm kind of just drifting through life, with no real direction...

Clearly you're headed to the right

OT: Not really? I don't really think about it very often... hmm... Wait! Miracle of Sound posted this about me on twitter

I was commenting on his Borderlands song thread

http://twitpic.com/b5xfvm

 

[aba1]

I won a daily 5th and 3rd on newgrounds! I know that doesn't mean much to most people but it was a huge deal to me.

 

[Yopaz]

Still haven't kissed a girl though...

I've kissed a girl... and I'm proud...

Nah, I'm just kidding.

I won a daily 5th and 3rd on newgrounds! I know that doesn't mean much to most people but it was a huge deal to me.

That is in fact very impressive, you have a reason to be proud there.

I've managed to create a strain of bacteria with resistance to ampicillin. It's not hard, but it's not something the majority of the population does (thank god).

 

[gostchiken]

I stepped on a giant-ass rattlesnake barefoot, calmy walked to the house to grab the shotgun, did a power-walk over to the snake and blew its fuckin head off. Then I ate it, felt like a complete badass that day.

 

[Terminate421]

I'm Eagle Scout. And managed to make it to first base in the same year.

In essence, 2011 may be one of the greatest years of my life.

 

[Ix Rebound]

i was part of the F1 in schools Limitless team that managed to come 3rd in the national competition in Australia

 

[Ledan]

I'm pretty proud of just my basic human movements. I can do a lot of things fluidly, and I'm kinda proud of that. Sure, it's not actually all that impressive but flinging my keychain from my pocket, catching it, swinging the lock open, opening the door with minimum hand movement, and flicking the lock back on in one fluid movement is something I just like. Spinning my pencil to instantanouesly moving from writing to erasing, is also something that just makes me happy that my body works.

Then there is the "bigger" stuff, like getting a program to work, figuring out a complicated idea and how to make a computer understand it, etc. Good grades on papers is also a pretty proud thing, helping people out when they don't get something.

Take joy in the simple things . Everything is pretty damn amazing.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Stopped a very public argument brewing between two high-profile members of a game community over a mod one had made. Turns out the mod interacted oddly with an obscure config option in the game (literally 3 config pages deep in the settings, the sort you set and forget about or outright miss) and the two of them were starting to get into a row over a major bug one of them wasn't seeing. I'd seen the bug but thought nothing of it since I was the odd sort of experimenter who knew what every config option did, so I immediately realized what happened.

I sent them both an e-mail suggesting they toggle the setting and try it again before they continue the fight. They did, then publicly apologized to each other. They both thanked me. I was quite proud. Still kinda am.

 

[geK0]

I've earned more interest than I have paid during my lifetime.

I've gone through college without borrowing money (still have two semesters before completion)

I've memorized 128 digits of pi

 

[The Madman]

Pretty proud of all the places I've been, I think world travel is something everyone should do at one point or another as it's an eye opening experience. Not just staying in fancy hotel and resort either, but backpacking across the countryside, staying in crowded hostel room, meeting the locals and learning about the various culture.

It can be frustrating and gruelling at times, but it's also just so very very worth it. Everyone should travel.

 

[Hagi]

Did a year of volunteer work in South Africa.

At my first place of work I was the first volunteer ever to take on responsibilities equal to those staffed there.

At my second place of work they insisted I stay for an extra month and be paid for my time.

I'm proud of that.