Exit Interview with My 20s
A resignation letter from the person I thought I’d become. Name: A Former Idealist (now answering to “Do You Still Do That Writing Thing?” or, as LinkedIn insists, that HR Thought Leader who’s been “hiring the best talent” for four years straight. Yes, I’m that HR idealist you quietly unfollowed.) Department: Long Nights, Self-Doubt, and Asking If This Is Normal (traded my best years for that not yet “30s promotion” that HR materials always hinted at but never delivered). Last Working Day: Sometime between “I can sleep when I'm dead” and “I’m just tired all the time.” Q: Why are you leaving? Because I mistook becoming for blossoming. I thought I’d emerge like a record finally spinning at the right speed: Warm, authentic, and unmistakably myself. Instead, I’m more like those generic annoying software updates that keeps installing at 3 AM: Necessary, annoying, and slightly glitchy. Leaving isn’t dramatic. It’s just quieter now...No big speeches, just the slow retreat of who I was ...
