If I could provide an analogy to wrap up my time at Ireckon in a holistic perspective and describe the impact my accumulated experiences have had on my life thus far I would use this:

My time at Ireckon is like the first chapter to a J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel. The tip of the ice berg to a very long and epic adventure that provides excitement, introduces some fine characters and provides the basis to a life path for one insignificant hobbit (me).

As a conclusion to my blog entries there is so much I have to say and so much that will be left unsaid. I leave this list – a philosophical 'rendition' of my cognisance:

6 Self-Discoveries made at Ireckon:

1. I can consistently wake up early in the morning and coherently make decisions to get to work everyday.

2. Finding motivation is hard, but when I find something that motivates me – I will always be motivated by it.

3. Anxiety to me is now a term to describe when others feel worry. I can withstand drinking 3 coffees and 3 red bulls in one day without dying.

4. Life is short. Mine may have been shortened with subtle self-sabotage. I eat way too much junk food throughout the day

5. Thinking outside the box is always seen in a positive light. I think frequently out the box - so much so that I can't rationally think back in it.

6. If 'pet hates' was a term to describe the most frustrating things you have ever come across in life, then my 'pet hates' would be bin lids (I want to throw things in the bin, I don't want to move a bin lid first), politics (any hierarchy which encourages discrimination) and transport department waiting times (enough said).

6 discoveries about the industry / the internet:

1. Profiting on the internet is like a search for oil. If you hit the right target you will reap the benefits but you can't keep drilling in the same area.

2. Some of the simplest things to use on a page are the hardest things to develop.

3. Some people just don't know how to use the internet and feel the need to blame those who do.

4. Web Development projects are inconspicuously complicated. There aren't very many constraints to keep the project on a sturdy track and project success is very opinion based (by the client). No restraints means high probability of scope creep, leap, backward steps and repeated work effort.

5. There is a lot of preparation involved at just understanding a request from a client and ensuring the interpretation is correct. No matter how hard we analyse, sometimes we find ourselves lost in conceptual translation. A lot of clients are oblivious to this hardship and expect perfect results from what they see as a simple, concise request.

6. Innovation on the internet doesn't automatically equal new and useful. Think novelty in its basic form. Cereal boxes do this best. They look appealing (bright colours and cartoon images), have great content to attract (convincing parents to buy) and they almost always have a good reason to buy it (free toy inside).

6 discoveries of work culture:

1. Quality is essentially a calculated concoction of work and fun. Too much work and you sacrifice quality. Too much fun and you won't have a product to measure quality with.

2. If you're working in a technical, creative environment the chances are that your co-workers require intellectual stimulation even in their hobbies. Have a go at mirroring their hobbies. You'll be smarter for it.

3. The office ambiance hides personality. Go for drinks at the pub after work to see your co-workers in a different light and discover their weekend personality.

4. People tend to fall into a groove of cultural norm and are quite unenlightened of their behaviour after a period of time. If you are lucky to fall into a new culture, note down your observations and what you think is good/bad about the culture. This is invaluable to the organisation who cannot see these things themselves.

5. I was convinced that authority was just a form of personal vendetta but I have now discovered authority is needed and when used effectively provides agile decisions which gets things done. When used wrong it's still a personal vendetta.

6. Work culture is closely related to school culture in that if you get along with the people around you, then you'll love coming in everyday to interact with these people. If you're the loner who gets picked on at school – you better hope you get job satisfaction from the role you play and not the people you play with.