I dropped out of college after a year, for a number of reasons, not least among them that I was tired of schooling and I wanted to actually participate in the Real World. I got a job as a office clerk at 19.
Since then I managed to work, jump, and slide my way up the ranks. I've been working as a full-on accountant for 15 years, despite never having official Accounting Schooling. You can learn a lot on the job, especially if you like numbers.
But it always felt like I was getting away with something. Especially over the last five years, I've been getting promotions I'm not sure I'm entirely qualified for, and been given work that I simply didn't understand when it first landed on my desk. It would take months of flying by the seat of my pants to get a grasp on what was going on, and in the meantime I still had to make the numbers balance and file the appropriate reports.
I would have nightmares about people asking me what I do in an account (in detail), cuz fuck if I know! Every quarter I was convinced THIS would be the quarter they figured out I had no clue. And every time I didn't get laid off or fired, I was shocked that I had gotten away with it for one more quarter. A lot of my efforts were put into saving up for when this house of cards came crashing down.
Last month, they finally caught on to me.
Which is kinda ironic, because I had only recently finally gotten almost everything figured out. I feel like I know what I'm doing more than ever before. (And OK -- it's not entirely fair to say they "caught on to me" -- as far as I can tell everyone still thinks I was doing a great job.)
Regardless, I no longer have to pretend I know what's going on, and worry constantly that someone will notice I'm faking it. Today is my last day at my current job. :) Thank god my long personal nightmare of security and prosperity is finally over!
They gave me plenty of warning and a nice severance, so I can't complain. I'm taking the rest of the year off to finish my novel, and then I'll dive back into the Real World come January.