At 25, my path seems laid out in front of me: only two years after finishing school I am considered a ‘high potential’ talent in a large and successful company. All I need to do is keep working hard, ignore the sadness and emptiness growing inside me, and I will climb the corporate ladder step by step. The sky’s the limit.
There is only one problem: France requires me to serve in the mandatory military service. I’m supposed to interrupt my brilliant and lucrative career to wash toilets or fix computers for a year, earning minimum wage and wearing a khaki uniform. Unfortunately it’s a bit too late to declare myself as a conscience objector, and my occasional sprained ankles and ingrown toenails fall short of meeting the criteria for physical inaptitude. I have no interest in becoming a “military scientist” (i.e. twiddling my thumbs for 2 years while pretending to do some research work in an army lab) so I only have one option left: to serve as a “peace corps” volunteer helping a French firm grow their business abroad. This could even boost my career instead of halting it! I talk to the Director of Human Resources: he assures me he will do whatever it takes to get me an assignment in the company’s branch in London. With a broad smile he guarantees that this corporation will not lose me to the military. Reassured, I let him do his job and go back to doing mine.
A few months later I enquire about the progress. Mr. Big Smile informs me that he hasn’t done anything because the future of the London branch is uncertain, so the only possible course of action is waiting. Furious, I decide to take things in my own hands… and I spend the next few days banging on doors that won’t open. My list of options is growing very thin and the clock is ticking.
One night I get an instant message from my old friend Jean-Noel who lives abroad. He asks if I know any engineer interested in moving to the San Francisco Bay Area for a software development job. Last year I visited California and I told myself it would be a great place to live. Opportunities like this do not happen twice, you have to grab them before they disappear. The answer is easy: “Pick Me!”
It only takes a few days to go through the interviews and get selected for the new job – which the French-American software company agrees to frame as a ‘peace corps’ mission so it can officially count as fulfillment of my military service. But before making the tough decision of quitting a frozen food logistics job in France and moving to the U.S. for a high-tech software position, I want to talk to my current manager and mentor, Patrick. Somehow I need his blessing so I can move on without feeling guilty. I stand across his desk and explain my situation. He pauses for a few seconds. A timid but genuine smile appears on his face: “Cedric, I can already see you surfing in California”.
Within a few months I am surfing in the Pacific Ocean, calling the San Francisco Bay Area ‘home’, and meeting the wonderful woman who will become my wife.
Looking back, being forced to quit my job to do my military service is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Sometimes you just need to follow your heart and trust that things will work out. Even without a crystal ball to predict the future you can have faith that somehow the dots will connect, and they will draw a beautiful picture.
Cedric, 10/18/11
(This story was inspired by Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement speech).
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