I wanted to go all the way to a PhD. So did my classmates. We were going to change the whole world.

But after an internship at a FAANG during my 2nd year undergrad, the money was too good. Got some return offers and basically slacked off the rest of my undergrad, just waiting to graduate.

I was not born into wealth. I am a 1/2-generation immigrant. My parents struggled to keep me afloat during my undergrad years. Even my internship pay was more than my parents' income at the time. So really I had no choice but to sell out early.

Now 10 years after undergrad and a couple of FAANGs later, the baby crying in the other room at 3AM, parents retired and vacationing around, I think I made the only choice for me. But I cannot help wonder how life might have been different, and if I really did have a chance to change to world.