What did you grow up to be?

[canadaguy]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, I really appreciate anyone taking the time to say something.

I wasn't really public about my failures for obvious reasons, but mostly I didn't want my family to know. I kept it quite personal, but I would tell anyone who asked me directly. It was a weird time in life, for sure. Trust me, I wouldn't have guessed this to be my end result, either.

Oh boy I haven't really messed with photo manipulation since my 20s. Didn't I make you a signature that just said "canadaguy" with a meat tenderizer? Why is this the only thing I can think of? lmao

I wanted to make my signature on here the traditional @VashTheStampede format, but couldn't find one single screenshot of it.

Yeah I figured there was some significant reason and did not want to pry.

That meat tenderizer thing sounds vaguely familiar lol. I also remember one with Guybrush Threepwood.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Yeah I figured there was some significant reason and did not want to pry.

That meat tenderizer thing sounds vaguely familiar lol. I also remember one with Guybrush Threepwood.

Oh yeah, from Monkey Island!! Let's see what I can muster up tonight.

 

[Alberkryne]

I went form being a 11-year old on GW Forums back in the day, skirting COPPA like a true degenerate....
....to working COPPA enforcement for Nintendo.

 

[Tommy Boy]

I went form being a 11-year old on GW Forums back in the day, skirting COPPA like a true degenerate....
....to working COPPA enforcement for Nintendo.

Wow lol, what exactly does that entail? Is this for their web presence or account management?

 

[Alberkryne]

Wow lol, what exactly does that entail? Is this for their web presence or account management?

For me - Account management. Its mostly a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, but if a parent is reaching out for an unrelated issue, and they mention their childs age, I have to act on it. Could be as simple as setting up a proper child account (when the parent set up the account themselves with their own info, and just let the child use it on their Switch, as an example), to total account deletion (when the kid used a fake DOB).
Purchases are retained if the parent sets up a proper account for the child within 30 days (but with me as long as they EVANTUALLY set up the child account we can recover purchases).

 

[shortkut]

I wanted to make my signature on here the traditional @VashTheStampede format, but couldn't find one single screenshot of it.

I had some screenshots from my photobucket

 

[shortkut]

Edit - @shortkut …this mofo really said “Lifetime movie” in Tommy’s quote. I’m done.

I wasn’t sure anyone noticed

 

[Tommy Boy]

For me - Account management. Its mostly a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, but if a parent is reaching out for an unrelated issue, and they mention their childs age, I have to act on it. Could be as simple as setting up a proper child account (when the parent set up the account themselves with their own info, and just let the child use it on their Switch, as an example), to total account deletion (when the kid used a fake DOB).
Purchases are retained if the parent sets up a proper account for the child within 30 days (but with me as long as they EVANTUALLY set up the child account we can recover purchases).

Wow, so if a parent is just looking for help with their Switch, and they reveal to you that their underaged child uses the sole account on the switch, you have to stop what you're doing and set up a child account for them? It's almost like parents are ratting themselves out to you without knowing!

I had some screenshots from my photobucket
View attachment 701

OH HELLLLLLL YEAHHHHHHHHH

 

[Alberkryne]

Wow, so if a parent is just looking for help with their Switch, and they reveal to you that their underaged child uses the sole account on the switch, you have to stop what you're doing and set up a child account for them? It's almost like parents are ratting themselves out to you without knowing!

YUUUUUUUUUP. And then they get mad at ME when I have to do it.

 

[VashTheStampede]

I wanted to make my signature on here the traditional @VashTheStampede format, but couldn't find one single screenshot of it.

https://gwforums.com/attachments/mew-is-not-a-fkn-cat-okay-_-gamewinners-com-1-png.72/

 

[Tommy Boy]

https://gwforums.com/attachments/mew-is-not-a-fkn-cat-okay-_-gamewinners-com-1-png.72/

Just like old times.

 

[Dean]

I'm the VP of Operations for a very small community bank. I oversee vendor management, risk management, information security, and related areas.

I volunteer for a few non-profits. I'm the treasurer of the local Kiwanis chapter, Adjutant for the local Sons of the American Legion, and recently accepted a board position for my old community college's education foundation.

 

[Crystal]

I'm the VP of Operations for a very small community bank. I oversee vendor management, risk management, information security, and related areas.

I volunteer for a few non-profits. I'm the treasurer of the local Kiwanis chapter, Adjutant for the local Sons of the American Legion, and recently accepted a board position for my old community college's education foundation.

Sounds like you're doing quite well, that's awesome!

 

[shortkut]

I'm the VP of Operations for a very small community bank. I oversee vendor management, risk management, information security, and related areas.

I volunteer for a few non-profits. I'm the treasurer of the local Kiwanis chapter, Adjutant for the local Sons of the American Legion, and recently accepted a board position for my old community college's education foundation.

Sounds like you're doing quite well, that's awesome!

No, it sounds like that’s where we go when we need to take out a loan

 

[Crystal]

No, it sounds like that’s where we go when we need to take out a loan

GWF's Official Expansion Fund Loan!

 

[Mark]

GWF's Official Expansion Fund Loan!

Have a dedicated server running an algorithm changing Alu’s username hourly.

 

[Crystal]

Have a dedicated server running an algorithm changing Alu’s username hourly.

Yes!

 

[shortkut]

 

[Tubby23]

I'm an Accountant by trade but work as a Financial Analyst within the sports industry

 

[Crystal]

I'm an Accountant by trade but work as a Financial Analyst within the sports industry

Somehow I knew you'd be somewhere in sports

 

[Tubby23]

Somehow I knew you'd be somewhere in sports

Yeah to be honest there is no other industry I'd love to work in more

 

[Crystal]

Yeah to be honest there is no other industry I'd love to work in more

I absolutely understand, it's a passion and there's nothing better than working in an industry you're passionate about!

 

[Scott]

I've grown up to become a Kitchen Manager, in one of the many pubs run by a major UK Pub Chain.

 

[Friel]

I'm a telecoms engineer. I bring full fibre internet to parts of rural Ireland that barely even have a phone signal, nevermind internet. I'm like the second coming of christ to these people.

 

[Leandros?]

I got a master's in physics and realised the only place you can do that is academia so I tried to go to the darkside of finance but quickly noped out of the hours required to make money. Did frontend web dev work for 3 months and got bored implementing the wishes of clients, much preferring to discuss their challenges, architecting a solution and letting someone else implement it. A friend of mine did a sales associate program at a major IT vendor and got me in to the next cohort as SE. Worked there for 3 years but felt undervalued so I went to a competitor for much more money. The business is not going great (not sure if it's a creeping recession or just us, my previous employer has also not been doing well but another competitor is doing fine) so I'm just gonna save as much as I can and see where life leads me. My best friends are all involved in startups now so that's starting to look pretty cool also.

e: I guess maybe relevant is I flunked out of high school after having had to redo my 2nd and 4th years there due to spending all my time on the computer. I was content just being a failure in my mom's house, until realising I wanted to finish HS and go to community college to do engineering physics, and move up to university physics. My granddad, who was basically the only male adult in my life growing up and who I shared a scientific/engineering interest with, died the day I signed up for adult HS.

 

[Local Hero]

I've worked with the same company, blood plasma and medication manufacturer, for the past 13 years. I started part time in college but was an operations manager for most of my time in the centers. About two years ago I got super lucky and got hired into a remote position doing project management/business support/strategy.

I also travel quite a bit. I'm in Lexington right now, then to Chicago area Thursday night and Friday if anyone's in the area.

 

[Leandros?]

I've worked with the same company, blood plasma and medication manufacturer, for the past 13 years. I started part time in college but was an operations manager for most of my time in the centers. About two years ago I got super lucky and got hired into a remote position doing project management/business support/strategy.

I've shown my girlfriend FB posts of you and your kid in the past because he had such a cute smile


... man with the talk of Nimrod and klown that sentence gives me a weird taste

 

[Local Hero]

I've shown my girlfriend FB posts of you and your kid in the past because he had such a cute smile


... man with the talk of Nimrod and klown that sentence gives me a weird taste

Thanks man, they both are pretty cute

I extremely rarely post pictures to social media. But I'd say they're marginally less cute now haha

 

[Ben]

I've had so many different jobs over the years... I worked for UPS for a while, then in financial aid at a college, tech support for an online backup company, residential in-home care, sold male-enhancement supplements over the phone, did overnight flow at Target, then customer service for a disability reinsurance company.

For the past 6 years though I've been working for a Fintech company in their fraud department. We provide various payment options for companies to conduct their business, such as fuel cards for fleets (we're usually one of the logos on the "accepted here" stickers on gas pumps), or corporate cards running on MasterCard/VISA. We have a wide range of different clients, from small businesses, to big name online travel agencies, to the US government.

A lot of what I was doing to start with was fraud detection, reviewing transactions and confirming whether they were legit with the client. That turned into more of an investigative role for a while, where I'd employ various identity databases to research and locate suspects. I then stepped back from operations into a risk & governance role and kind of did project management for a bit, driving some initiatives. I'm now realigned as a Business Systems Analyst/Fraud Strategist working under data & analytics, managing various detection systems, compiling information streams into usable dashboards, appending rules to reduce false-positives, etc.

After about 15 years of trying to find my niche, I just landed back being a nerd working with SQL/data just like I started off here.

 

[aiat_gamer]

It feels weird to say, but I guess I am an actual scientist doing research and all that jazz...! Yes, scientist nerd with lab coat and everything. Somehow I got my master's and kept going to turn into something I never even thought about.
My work does not involve topics that are too exciting (high chromium white cast iron fans here?), but still it is intriguing enough.

 

[Payton]

I dropped out of college after 3 semesters of not knowing WTF I wanted to do and just went to work in construction. The last few years I've been leading a drill crew around the country working on renewable projects. We put pipe in under roads, ditches, rivers, pipelines and such on wind and solar farms. Could not be happier. Hoping to move into a coordinator position sometime in the future, my boss probably goes into the field like 4 times a year.

 

[Mr. Blue]

I actually ended up being an archeologist and teacher. Along with some university work, I've been working as a cartographer on Roman and Etruscan sites in Italy for the last 10 years. Nowadays I fly drones and make 3d maps of archeological trenches, amongst other things. I'm about to go start a second masters degree, hopefully on my way to a PhD. Never imagined I'd end up in Academia, but here I am.

 

[Duke Nukem]

Unsurprisingly, I grew up to be a complete failure.

 

[Andy]

I work in digital marketing. Currently in insurance but I’ve worked for Mitsubishi cars, an international air show and a few other cool places too. Did a bit of freelance NFL writing for a while too (nothing serious - like $15 an article type things) which is hilarious considering the only reason I started watching the sport was because there was some spots going in the GW fantasy league. I remember @Crazy Jamie pulled over to call me and suggest picks in my first year as I didn’t know any of the players!

 

[Ryan!]

I work in digital marketing. Currently in insurance but I’ve worked for Mitsubishi cars, an international air show and a few other cool places too. Did a bit of freelance NFL writing for a while too (nothing serious - like $15 an article type things) which is hilarious considering the only reason I started watching the sport was because there was some spots going in the GW fantasy league. I remember @Crazy Jamie pulled over to call me and suggest picks in my first year as I didn’t know any of the players!

Holy shit it's Andy!

 

[Pun Damage]

A disappointment.

 

[Olga]

A disappointment.

Why? What are you measuring up against?

 

[Lee]

I'm a software engineer for an automation company.

 

[Ben]

Mail order would be more closely related to what the techs do at the company I work for. I would have checked to see if we had openings in Texas if you wanted a change of setting before going back to school. I was hoping to save you from retail work

My partner is a home infusion nurse (has worked boy both big O name companies) and regularly is on the phone to the pharmacy to chase a patient's shipment. I suspect the person on the other end is doing similar work to you.

 

[Benzine]

I'm a software engineer for an automation company.

I do support for an automation company. Which one do you work for? Are we gonna fight?

 

[Ben]

It's funny, when I was younger I did actually use GW on one resume as a fluffed out piece of job experience . Didn't help, I didn't get that job, but ah well

I absolutely had GW on my resume to start out. I'd even asked Al if he was cool with being a reference and he gave his apathetic sure.

Had to get something useful out of my time in those coal mines.

Heck, I think I also listed being a WOW guild leader for a while too... Just gotta spin it as management experience!

 

[Crystal]

I absolutely had GW on my resume to start out. I'd even asked Al if he was cool with being a reference and he gave his apathetic sure.

Had to get something useful out of my time in those coal mines.

Heck, I think I also listed being a WOW guild leader for a while too... Just gotta spin it as management experience!

Seven years as a Home Health Coordinator should help fluff the resume a bit, lol.

 

[Raine]

Heck, I think I also listed being a WOW guild leader for a while too... Just gotta spin it as management experience!

I've heard of people getting their foot in the door through things like this, for sure. Game or not managing ~40 people's schedules, tending to their needs, keeping the machine running smoothly and efficiently - that's work.

Also the reason I'll never willingly be a raid leader/guildmaster again.

 

[Ben]

I've heard of people getting their foot in the door through things like this, for sure. Game or not managing ~40 people's schedules, tending to their needs, keeping the machine running smoothly and efficiently - that's work.

Also the reason I'll never willingly be a raid leader/guildmaster again.

EDIT: Oh hey, the 100 was because I agreed with what Warp said, but it also happened to be my 100th post.

 

[Leandros?]

I absolutely had GW on my resume to start out. I'd even asked Al if he was cool with being a reference and he gave his apathetic sure.

Had to get something useful out of my time in those coal mines.

Heck, I think I also listed being a WOW guild leader for a while too... Just gotta spin it as management experience!

I had "Steam Support Wiki Translator for Valve Corporation" on my LinkedIn. I got paid in games so all in all probably my best job ever.

e: actually I still do lol woops

 

[Danny]

I went to college with aspirations to be an actor...then I got horribly depressed to the point where anxiety says NO.

I've only had two paid jobs. (Finding work with disabilities is hard)

I was an administrator for a charity that helps people with neurological conditions and as mentioned a few times, I'm working at McDonald's now.

I write stuff on the side as a hobby and annoy my cats. I still live at home due to disabilities and mental health and rely on public transport because fuck learning to drive.

I'll shut up now before I give you my autobiography.

Danny: What Is My Life? Coming to all good retailers NEVER.

 

[Pun Damage]

Why? What are you measuring up against?

Myself and my dreams and aspirations growing up.

I graduated high school, got into the Air Force like I wanted, and then... I've just kinda stagnated after my mental break and subsequent discharge.

 

[Mark]

I absolutely had GW on my resume to start out. I'd even asked Al if he was cool with being a reference and he gave his apathetic sure.

Had to get something useful out of my time in those coal mines.

It might not work on a resume, but that’s early managerial/leadership skills that you had to pick up on when most people were still in high school and college at the time. Then… the diplomatic skills needed for the corporate world? Shit… you certainly learn how to deal with all kinds of personalities.

 

[Ben]

It might not work on a resume, but that’s early managerial/leadership skills that you had to pick up on when most people were still in high school and college at the time. Then… the diplomatic skills needed for the corporate world? Shit… you certainly learn how to deal with all kinds of personalities.

For sure.

It was oddly similar work to what I've ended up doing as a career... Managing systems through control panels, querying and modifying data with SQL, modifying and writing processes for an operations team, finding strategies to combat bad actors. The only differences are that it's transaction monitoring instead of post monitoring, and I have done my best to never again manage people _myself_.

GameWinners, the Internet's vocational preparation center.

 

[Olga]

Myself and my dreams and aspirations growing up.

I graduated high school, got into the Air Force like I wanted, and then... I've just kinda stagnated after my mental break and subsequent discharge.

Not to be some sort of child-hating jerkface, but kids don’t know a lot. IMO culturally we propagate this notion of “having a dream”, but I don’t think that this is helpful or meaningful precisely because it’s bloody difficult, and can set you up for a real fall.

Maybe I say this because I was extremely confused as to what to do with myself up until, like, 3 years ago and I’m surprised that anyone ever had any idea… I don’t know. But that just seems like a lot of pressure to choose something based on essentially no evidence.

I’m sorry it turned out so painful. :-( I don’t know your current situation, but humans are remarkably resilient, and everyone has strengths. Failing to fill a niche within an externally-set narrative doesn’t strike me as failure at all.