Yeah, I'm my own person now, due to some fortuitous turns of fate. I wasn't until pretty recently, and I worked at some of the worst paid jobs in Canada (like gas station attendant, taxi driver, and folksinger). I now own a small export company and things are looking good.

To expand on the subject, however, I think that I became my own person when I started living to fulfill my own dreams and expectations, rather than someone else's (like my parents, my teachers, my friends, my lover's, my neighbour's, or whatever). Having a reliable source of income has, mind you, been a huge help in doing that.

By the way, since I have started fulfilling my own dreams, I find that I am more beneficial to all those other people too, and they even like me better, although I sometimes don't do precisely what they want me to...in terms of my own life. How about that, eh? Share the wealth. It's a lot easier when you are happy and fulfilled.