When I graduated university, or maybe when accepting the job offer to move to the Netherlands, I wrote to past Teachers—from secondary school and university—who made significant impact on my life's path.
To my World History teacher, who: gave bonus points for wit, shared stories of his world travels, who mourned the loss of his best friend (another teacher), who was surprised when I gave a presentation for 30-min—the most he said he'd ever heard me speak.1
To the English teacher who said they'd submit something I wrote to a Mark Twain writing contest if they could, because I wrote something he found Good.2
To my Digital Design professor, who helped me get an interview with Razr Product Design team for an interview—and enjoyed my curiosity in Actionscript, Development, and Creativity.
To the Head of Graphic Design, who's Open House presentation—of which my dad suggested, "let's check out this design school thing," me never having heard of design before—where I walked out and Decided:
"That's what I want to do."
In that spirit
There's all those who've taught me—formally and informally—throughout my career. The knowledge, feedback, wisdom, and insights shared.
The allies.
The friends.
The colleagues.
The acquaintances.
I've always been appreciative of all the people I've spoken to and learned from over the years.
Some were like, lovely, world class—literal Internet Elders, creating still-living & evolving programming languages—and life paths & roles of all sorts—a plentiful multitude.
This would be a page where I write "here's how I know them, here's how they helped me grow, this is why you're an inspiration."
But, in a way that respects their privacy.
My Want
I've been wanting to find a way to keep track of everyone I've worked with. Basically, kind of like a "metrics" of people I've worked with over the years.
Right now, it's easily in the upper 300's. And that's directly interacting in some way. Not any indirect impact over time.
I need it to navigate my mossy mind, who I've worked with. Just seeing names helps me remember.
And I've learned from so many different people.
Hence, they're my /inspiration