As you begin learning about the patterns themselves, remember you have the power to choose them, combine them, and adapt them to your unique situation in an infinite number of ways. Understand that these patterns are written for a specific audience within a specific context. In the years ahead, some of the patterns will suddenly become relevant to you, and then just as suddenly some may feel inappropriate. An apprenticeship is a season in your career when your focus is more on your own growth than almost anything else. This is a time for you to delay your ambitions of immediately maximizing your earning potential in order to maximize your learning opportunities. Because of this, it is a season that affords a certain amount of selfishness. And once that season is over, your priorities will need to adapt. You will no longer be an apprentice, despite the fact that you still have much to learn, and your priorities will need to shift toward others: your customers, your colleagues, and your community.