The Doctor Suess book leaves me wondering, which road should I follow? Robert Frost says to take the road less travelled, but will that road lead to a career at McDonald's?
I don't really remember many details about the Dr. Suess book, "Oh the Places You'll Go," except of course the wacky characters and the tripped-out colors. I do remember it sitting on Grandma and Grandma Smith's coffee table though; and although it meant little to me as a child, I now find myself think about that solitary book (or more specifically, its title) on a daily basis.
I love being in college, for the most part. If I could some how find a way to get paid to attend college, I'd do this for the rest of my life. I'm sure everyone would agree with me. I love spending my days on one of the most beautiful and interesting places in this country, using its amazing facilities, learning things I have never understood before, and growing into an adult by the day.
However, there's a very confusing aspect of college that I have yet to resolve, and I hope its generally "normal" to feel this way. Usually, I feel like its hard to pin down the direction I would like to steer the proverbial vessel of my life. It seems that each time I arrive up on a solid conclusion, "I will be a teacher," it changes within the following hour, week, month, well you get the idea.
The toughest part is that the requirements for each major are so strict and inflexible that once you've made a decision (especially in your Junior year of study) you're basically committed. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."
Then comes the advice from others. Everyone who seems to care about me (or who is paid to care about me) usually has a different idea about what the ideal college education should look like: "Study only what you're interested in!" "Study something practical!" "Major in a lucarative field!" "Find a area of study that has an exceptional employment outlook!" AHHHHH!!!
The hardest part is that I've seen this thing go both (or all) ways: I've seen people who have studied what their interested in, only to find themselves with a piece of paper worth approximately $50,000 working at the local restaurant; but I've also seen people who majored in something "practical" completely unsatisfied with their lives. I've heard, "Do what you like," but I've also heard, "The secret to life is not doing what you like, but liking what you do."
So it comes down to this: is my future really dependent on making the right decisions right now, or is it more about making the best decisions I can right now, and learning how to deal with the consequences in the best possible way in the future? Is it about planning, or more about adapting? Should I study what I want, or should I study something I know will produce a stable income and benefit package.
More importantly, where can I find reliable advice to these questions?
As always, comments are highly appreciated and welcomed!
Posted by smit3510 at December 7, 2005 03:55 PM | TrackBackAs I ponder the dilemma you have so eloquently posed, I can tell you from experience that there is no correct answer. It's great that you are giving this very serious subject such considerable thought. If perhaps I had done such a soul-searching task at your age, I would have eliminated many years of heart ache. Then again, different choices would have led to a different set of heart aches. Life is full of heart aches, but also full of wonderous joy. Any path you take will bring you much of both. One must not spend all of their life trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, but rather "live" each day as it comes. The choices you make now may not lead you to where you think they will. It's most important to simply make a choice and be flexible enough to change direction whenever it becomes necessary. Careers that produce great incomes can be the most distressing you'll find, and learning to live on a modest income is quite challenging. I only know for sure that hating what you do every day is the most stressful thing in the world. You have incredible talent and so whatever you choose you'll be successful in it. Choose a career with your heart, but perform your job with your head. That, my dear, will always serve you well.
Posted by: Jill at December 20, 2005 02:20 PMThank you Jill for your expertise. I honestly wasn't expecting what you wrote, but I appreciate what you did, because you basically read my mind. I know that it's not about looking towards the future and trying to control every aspect so that things don't go wrong, even though that would be nice, because they inevitably will. Learning how to accept that fact, I think, is the hardest thing to do. Thank you again for reading and responding, I love you.
Posted by: Erica at December 20, 2005 04:38 PMYou probably won't read this until after I see you at Christmas tomorrow, but here it goes from someone who has just been separated from a job that I loved to do. Most of the time, I didn't feel like I was "working" because the job was basically in one of my majors - geography. I learned on the job to deal with the general public at meetings, and in public speaking during committee meetings, public hearings and other presentations. I also had a lot of writing to do on a daily basis. I never liked English or writing much in high school, so when I got to college (yes I also think somedays that the college life would be fun to do forever) and finally decided on a geography major and eventually a dual major in economics as the economics minor turned in to a major, that I had a lot of writing to do for majors that I thought were mathematical and not much for writing. I wrote and wrote and wrote and became pretty good at it. I can say, though, that you're writing skils at this point in your life far exceed any that I could ever dream to have!
Use that as a starting point to figure out what you want to do when you grow up!
Now that I have had to deal with an unexpected career change, I am also wondering what I want to do when I grow up! I never thought I would ever like a sales job, because the negative connotation of cold calling and door-to-door sales never excited me. But last week, Bumpi sent me out to California to call on current customers and prospective customers for American Design off of leads he got at the Packaging Show in September and the NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) show last month. I had to set up appointments and travel arrangements on very short notice, and I drove 1270 miles in 7 days from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back.
I found that having a new reliable, easy to use product was easy to sell. Not that everyone I talked to is going to buy a machine, but there is a market out there and I found it a lot of work and very tiring, but also very satisfying and enjoyable. I hope the next trip I take there will be more time to prepare!
Nevertheless, I am back to searching for a full-time job, without the backup of a current job! Very scary, yet I am not looking back - just forward. You have a whole wide world out there to explore and discover.
As Jill stated (very eloquently) choose with your heart, but perform with your head. Also, even if you find out that the job you have is not what you like, do the best you can, perform as well as you can and don't burn bridges on the way. You may need to go back and cross some of those bridges to move ahead again.
As I have been telling Jack and Clare, always put your best effort into whatever you do, no matter whether anyone else is looking or not. Because there are always two who know what you are doing at all times......God and YOU. Even if God is not a part of your life, YOU always know how well you performed and what effort you put in to whatever it is you are doing.
My career change was unexpected, but I know I have a lot of people I can count on to give me good references because they saw the quality of effort I put into my job.
'Nuf ramblin'
Uncle Jim
Posted by: JIm at December 24, 2005 07:38 PM