well. i'm thinking about going back to school. this is my annual revisitation of the issue. which got me thinking about other ideas that have come down the pike of my mind over the years. i thought i'd catalog them here...
the following are some different things that i have considered pretty seriously over the last five years. some are life direction things (like teaching) and others fall under project or hobby type things.
be a foreign service officer.
what happened: i got the book to study and applied to take it. then i realized that i would have to tow the party line of whomever occupied the whitehouse. i'm still too idealistic to be able to feel good about myself and do it.
get my master's in education.
what happened: i applied to notre dame and seton hall and didn't get in.
submit an episode to this american life.
what happened: i just didn't do it. i sketched out three scenes on predators- mostly predatory lending at j.d. byryders and check cashing places. i also sketched out some scenes on diaspora. this included migration and was sparked by all the somalis settling in columbus. i also wanted to do stories on nomads that would include hobos- b/c we all know hobos are awesome.
get my master's in architecture.
what happened: this was in response to doing free/reduced lunch work in the projects here in columbus. i wanted to make affordable housing for the poor that was aesthetically pleasing and smart. i began the process to apply to the a three years master's program for folks who had other degrees outside of architecture. the project included a memory map of my time in new york city. i got the application and the portfolio requirements and spent about three months on some study sketches but it ended there.
pitch a position to work for common good strategies.
what happened: i made a website using wordpress and in the meantime read david kuo's tempting faith. it made me rethink my specific role in influencing how folks care for the poor.
pitch a position to be a research assistant for fred anderle.
what happened: i did this and am still waiting to hear the results. for those of you who don't know; fred is the host of a radio show on the a.m. npr affiliate here in columbus and i really love how he facilitates fair discussion on lots of different issues.
one low grade fear i have is that i would be perceived by others as flaky. so don't crack on me for being flaky b/c it will hurt my feelings. all that to say, i think i am a bit scared of going to school b/c i'm scared i will fail. this coming from me; who is fond of saying failure gets a bad rap. but then again, i also rip off the saying from program that it's none of my business what others think of me.
here's the thing- i'm thinking about going back to school to teach special needs kids. i figure if i have to go back to work- i might as well do something i find meaningful and has the potential to provide a fair income while charles works on his phd. in addition; i want whatever skill i am trained in to have an application that is practical in nigeria. from what i hear, special needs folks don't have a many schooling opportunities in lagos and are largely forgotten- so that has played a role in choosing that field.
i would love to eventually be certified to teach art (which is my undergraduate degree); but for now, pragmatism will win out. i am fairly sure that teaching art is a much narrower and tougher route to employment.
anyways, so it is my goal to do one thing daily towards this goal. perhaps breaking it down will make it more doable for me.
it's funny- when i think of parenting constance; i have no problem dissuading her from a broad liberal arts degree should she choose to goto college. i'm all about having our kids be plumbers, nurses, mechanics, engineers or accountants. i don't want any of them to relive the frustration i've had professionally. none of this philosophy of art or balkan literature of the 19th century bit.
