I Am Not Where I Wanted to Be At This Age

I grew up in a cult that disallowed all education past grade 9, and that messed me up. Luckily, I was a bright and hard-working kid, so I managed to get a job as an electrician's helper, and eventually became a journeyman at 19. As the trades are hands on like farming, the little bit of school was tolerated to an extent.

After leaving the cult and having the people I grew up with "hand me over to Satan" and shun me, I travelled to some 20 countries on 4 continents, and volunteered in Africa for two years. Then I went back and did some academic upgrading to get accepted into electrical engineering studies in university, as that was always a childhood aspiration.

So I find myself 28, cult survivor, somewhat well travelled, quite skilled in a job I don't enjoy - and now I'm going to classes surrounded by kids a decade younger than I am.

The worst part is that socially they are even more advanced than I am.

Where we want to be at a certain age is always framed by our environment and comparison to others. Would I have liked to be married, with a degree and a white collar job, and a couple of cute kids? Of course, but there's still good in my own story.