My Name’s Will, I’m a 22-Year-Old Whitewater Guide, and This Is How Blockchain Will Allow Me To Live The Life of My Dreams

A look into how blockchain was introduced into my life and what it means to me

The Power of An Open Mind

Making an entrance into the world right at the turn of the century. Those of my generation witnessed the invention of smartphones, Google, and the completion of the Human Genome Project all before the age of 10.

An ever-advancing world has been all that many of those my age have ever known. Being a bit rambunctious in my younger years I managed to break plenty of bones leading my way into plenty of visits with orthopedic doctors, ironically enough I liked their style I guess, and was convinced through middle school that I wanted to be an orthopedic.

Quickly discovering math wasn't my strongest suit, I was faced with my first roadblock to success. Since then I have changed my plans for a career more times than I can count, through that change, one lesson became evident that the world had already been trying to tell me since birth, change leads to opening the doors of new opportunity.

Spontaneous Decisions

Time and time again in life I have found that taking the opportunity that sounds just as promising as it does scary may not lead to a straight line of success, but you’ll learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible. I was a sophomore in college at Appalachian State University, at that point in time, my direction was to make my way into grad school with hopes of pursuing a career in international development.

A childhood friend living on the other side of the country reached out to me with the offer of working as a whitewater rafting guide on the Gallatin River in Big Sky Montana. Being born in North Carolina, I had never traveled west of Tennesse up until that point and my longest drive in a car was to Disney World with my family in the third grade. While my worldview and experience were narrow, the openness to new opportunities ingrained in my childhood saw an insatiable desire for adventure.

This decision proved to be incredibly influential in my life and just in the same way the style of a doctor inspired me as a kid, the style of the raft guide inspired me as a young adult. Introduced to the nomadic lifestyle and community that came with seasonal guide work, I was fixed on taking part in the growing movement known as “Van Life” to pursue a life of adventure and exploration.

In Comes Blockchain

The Covid 19 pandemic brought with it a cultural shift skyrocketing the normalcy of remote work and no other community greater supported the change than the nomads of “Van Life”. Understanding this cultural shift upon my return to finish my senior year of college, I became incredibly interested in the idea of remote work being a resource to support a nomadic lifestyle.

This interest and change once again opened the door to new opportunities. My academics having focused on the alleviation of poverty led me to the discovery of blockchain technology in recent years as a radically new technology creating unprecedented opportunities for many regardless of economic standing. I remember thinking to myself that if these systems are based on computers, there must be code at its foundation. Following this rabbit hole, a picture began to be painted of a future characterized by an overlap of coding and guiding to support a life of total freedom.

Having a basic idea of how blockchain will shake up the world, it only made sense that if I’m going to learn a coding language, it might as well be one based on blockchain. While I was aware of growth in the industry, I never could have predicted the explosiveness I would discover.

Its Simple Supply and Demand

The past two years have seen, crypto, NFTs, DAOs, and varieties of different terminology catching public attention. What's critical for the public to know is that blockchain is the overarching technology that makes all these things possible. Many use the analogy that the internet is to Facebook as Blockchain is to cryptocurrency.

Characterized as the internet of value, blockchain is the next generation of the internet as we know it. On the internet, as understood in today's terms (Web2), if John wants to send Mary a Microsoft word document, he would send her a copy of that document, but he is incapable of truly giving her digitally proven ownership over that document. Web2 gave users the option to read and write on the web, but not own. Blockchain (Web3) gives users the ability to own things on the web.

The technology that makes up the world as we know it continues every day to evolve and adapt to the next generation, the internet is no exception to this rule. Just as those who pioneered the internet were rewarded for their commitment to the new territory, the same will come to those in Web3.

Take Your Skill and Apply It To Blockchain

The further that I dove into the idea of coding as a resource to support me in my travels. The more it became evident that blockchain was the route I would follow.

The salaries associated with these two professions greatly display my point of supply and demand, both have similar methods of understanding and responsibility. The main difference is in the disparity between the demand for Web2 developers vs Web3. Entrepreneurs are recognizing a second coming of the explosion of success that came in the 90s with the internet.

Think about how much of our day-to-day lives in some way incorporate the internet. It’s intertwined into everything we do as a society whether directly or indirectly. Heads of the industries of crypto would argue this same degree of adoption is in store for the future.

An incredibly impactful quote was told to me by a friend in college who is pursuing the same profession, “in a gold rush, I’d rather be the one selling the shovels than digging for gold“.

Those that acquire the skills to work in the next evolution of the internet align themselves with a small minority that will be in demand by the overwhelming majority.

Conclusion

My focus in writing this article is not meant to be an intrinsic look at my own life but to convey the accessibility of the industry. I knew of blockchain for years but always considered it to be something for those smarter and more successful than I.

The introduction of blockchain into my life has created opportunities and dreams I never before thought imaginable. Life has taught me repeatedly that fortune follows those who keep an open mind to change and opportunity.

My hope in writing this article is that it reaches those who also characterize themselves in a manner of openness to change, opportunity, and passion to chase ambition.