I am amazed that some people stay in the same profession--sometimes even the same job--for decades on end. My Dad has been at BYU for 31 years now. THIRTY-ONE YEARS! That is a wicked long time. My Mom has been teaching at Timpview for 16 years. So far, I've been able to stick with a job for two years before I start getting ancy. And during those two years at any given job, it seems as though I spend a significant amount of time thinking about what else I could possibly be doing. Over the past two years alone I feel like I've had a new life plan every few months...Here's a few:
11. Be a full-time PhD student in History (career goal: University Professor)
10. Get a random job on capital hill (career goal: Try something that isn't teaching)
9. Be a High School Teacher (career goal: pay the bills and have the summers off)
8. Be a part-time MA student in History while teaching Math (career goal: just get a Master's so I can earn more as a teacher)
7. Be a High School Teacher (career goal: throw my heart and soul into teaching and inspire the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow)
6. Be a full-time MA student in Educational Policy (career goal: tell the people in Washington how silly all their Educational Policy is and improve our nation's schools...and go to Harvard)
5. Be a full-time MA student in Marriage Family Therapy (career goal: help others improve their emotional well-being and share some of my wisdom with them)
4. Teach myself Spanish and move to Spain for the summer (career goal: ummmm...Spain is just cool, and I need to go there and see for myself)
3. Be a full-time MA student in Instructional Design (career goal: improve teaching while giving myself options for something other than classroom teaching)
2. Be a part-time MA student in Instructional Design while teaching math (career goal: same as above, without intense amounts of debt)
And my most recent and most exciting new life plan (one that I'm actually pursuing):
1. Be an instructional design consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. (career goal: earn lots more money and have them pay for my Master's degree in Instructional Design)
Yes, I am just beginning the interview process with Booz Allen, and if all goes well, I will have a new career in a few months! It will be hard for me to give up summer vacation, but I'm ready to try something that isn't teaching. Maybe then, I will stop thinking up new life plans all the time (and I haven't exaggerated a single one of these. I have honestly had each one of those plans at some point over the last 2 years). And if I hate it, there are always new new life plans to think up.
Am I the only person constantly re-thinking the direction of their life? What interesting possibilities have you come up with?
4 comments:
Good luck! I'm glad to see your thinking through all of the options. Summer vacation will be a hard thing to sacrifice. However, maybe you will accrue a few weeks of vacation time and have a lot more money to spend on places like Spain with your latest life endeavor. Keep us posted!
Life Plan #275
Move to San Diego with MaryAnn in September. Live in a condo 5 minutes from the beach. Go back to school at UC San Diego. I'll provide the condo. You bring your sweet red couch. We'll play some sweet tennis by the beach.
Oh wow! I was a nanny back in VA 3 summers ago for a woman who was the main person who organized & ran the Booze Allen Classic golf tournament. Her name is Karen Bybee...if you want me to see if she can put in a good word, let me know. I don't even know if the golf tournament is related to the company...but you never know! Good luck, that would be fun to go for your dreams! You deserve the best.
Exciting! Aaron's actually switched jobs every 19 months for the last four years. The first three were all just different law firms, but now he just put in his notice and is joining one of his clients. He'll do their immigration and other legal stuff as well as some HR and office managing. The guy is paying for him to get his MBA, too! I don't imagine it will be long before he dreams of something else. He always wants to be a diplomat. Not sure if that one will ever happen.
As for me, I hope to go back to school someday, but right now, I have no idea what field I'd pursue. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be history, though. I loved it then, but I don't think I'd enjoy it now.
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