Brain World - Fall 2016

What do you do for a living? It’s a question we get asked all too often in casual conversation.
More importantly, how do we answer? Chances are you have a job — whether it’s
working 9 to 5 in an office, doing a graveyard shift, or just embarking on a new career.
Maybe you’re at the end of a long and distinguished profession, or maybe you’re just working
a day job to pay the bills while you wait for your big break, doing something in the arts
that fulfills a lifelong passion, or creating new cutting-edge technology. It’s hardly a coincidence
that what we do for work ends up being described as our “living” or “livelihood.”
Whatever our job may be, it usually becomes a part of who we are — something we devote
a substantial portion of our lives aspiring to and training for. Gradually, your brain knows a
successful interview when you land it, and fewer things can be as satisfying as taking home
your first paycheck at a new job, or as frustrating as trying to find your way around the office
on your first day