Monday, September 28, 2009

impressionable and indecisive

In high school I took a lot of cooking classes and decided I wanted to be a chef, and went to culinary school. When I watched Dog Town and the Z Boys, I tried (unsuccessfully) to learn to be a skateboarder. When I sing along to the radio, sometimes I convince myself that I could be a famous singer too. Sometimes I think that I want to be well-known for something...I want my 15 minutes in the sun, but frankly, I hate being the center of attention. My 6th or 7th birthday party, I cried when everyone sang happy birthday to me. I don't know what it is, but lately I've been reading a lot of articles and journals and I want to be a writer, but I don't really think I do. At 25, I still have no idea what I want to do. I'm not getting any younger (which is so dramatic to write, no less think) and I'm certainly not saving any money with this lifestyle. I just don't know what direction I'm taking my life in. I know I'm going to get a degree soon and that will "open up so many doors" (as everyone keeps telling me), but I don't know if I buy it. And how will I know if I'm going through the right door? My degree will be in psychology most likely with a minor in sociology, which sounds great in theory, but really means nothing. To be able to do anything, whether I teach or go into counseling or even research, I'm really going to need a masters. I'm not saying I'm opposed to furthering my education, but let's be honest here, it's taken me quite a long time to even get to the point I'm at now. One would think that I'd have some sort of idea where I'm going with this. I don't. I am completely and utterly clueless. I like teaching, but I don't see myself doing that forever; furthermore, I don't LOVE it. I don't want to be one of those people who is miserable at their job and is merely earning a living. I want to be happy. I want to wake up in the morning and be excited about what I have to do. I know that's a bit unrealistic and over-the-top, but I also don't want to settle. Part of why it's taking me nearly 10 years to finish my undergraduate education is because I can't decide what I want to be when I "grow up". To be honest, I want to get married and be a mother, but a lot of good college will do me in that area. I really do want to finish my degree for myself, and not so that my father will be proud of me (that's an added bonus), but I'm easily discouraged because "what's the point" if I don't have a specific goal in mind. Its very hard to reach your goal if there's not a bigger goal beyond that. Wouldn't it be nice if I could just keep taking classes in the social sciences. I'd love to do research, but I don't want to write those hard-to-read scientific journals, and I do want to make a difference. I want to be able to change at least one person's life for the better. That's my goal, but it's awful broad if you ask me. There are infinite ways I can do that, and a lot of them require little-to-no schooling whatsoever. So, where do I go from here? I haven't the slightest idea. Hopefully something will click between now and graduation.

2 comments:

Emma said...

I hear that, sister! Being funemployed really makes you question what exactly you want to do and which direction you'd like your life to take. I wish I had some pearls of wisdom, but I find myself wondering the same damn thing every day!

However, I will tell you one thing: You've already accomplished your life goal. I can think of at least one person's life you changed for the better (and I would venture to guess that there are more): ME!

Love you and can't wait to see you again :-)

Graber said...

I saw Dog Town and Z Boys when I was working at Blockbuster. We finished closing and then sat in the store and watched it while on the clock. When it was over, we clocked out and went home to sleep.

I'm also in the same boat for not knowing what I want to do next. For me, personally (which I guess should be implied after using the phrase "for me" because it wouldn't be anything else but personal? WTF?>!?!) I just can't seem to muster up the "care factor." This is what some people see as "the problem."