ideas of old
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.
10 comments:
um, yeah, you are amazing!
could you do a sketch on "this american life" about a real live romanian? With scoliosis? Just an idea. Girl, you are not flaky. Not a bit.
good idea jess. i will get right on that scoliosis bit. maybe it should be a comedian w/ scoliosis.
I know where all have good intensions. I am sure my parents give me a Hell of time. So does my sister about where my life is. I however wanted to avoid Math and Science. I just did not know where to go. I am also thinking about furthering my education either as a paralegal or special ed. Let me wait and see.
"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."
Wow, Maureen, does this strike a nerve. I headed off to Ohio University and walked out of there four years later with a degree in Creative Writing. A couple jobs driving a forklift later, I went back to school and got an Education degree. Then I went to seminary and studied theology. Then I pretended that I was businessman and got an M.B.A.
But you know what? I got it right the first time. The Creative Writing major is who I was, who God made me, and who I still am. I'm just faking it with all the other stuff. And I've spent years trying to convince myself that I really need to be pragmatic and utilitarian. And so I totally fake it as a corporate American, and pretend like I actually care about technie acronyms. But I don't. I don't want to talk about network nodes. I'd rather write Ode to a Node.
My kids are both in college now (well, the second is about to embark for college), and they're both in liberal arts fields. And I think it's fine. It's who they are, and I'd hate to see them repeat the mistakes of the old man and live in near constant frustration in the workworld by trying to be people they are not.
So, for what it's worth, I hope and trust that you'll let Constance figure out who she is, and support her in pursuing that, regardless of whether it leads to a ready-made job or not. This is the blessing and the curse of liberal arts folks worldwide. Who they aren't doesn't easily conform to a job description.
And, for what it's worth, I think it's wonderful that you're dreaming. These days this very non-pragmatic 52-year-old would encourage people to pursue their dreams.
i totally believe you could do just about anything you put your mind to. really and truely. and you would rock at it. the thing about all these ideas and attempts at doing something... i love it b/c it's so active... your wanting to grow and change and learn. LOVE IT.
i think you rock, maureen.
I think you rock too. I'm glad to see someone else who has too many ideas and not enough time. They are wonderful ideas--the hard part for me is accepting that saying yes to one thing means letting go of a whole raft of other things. And the best advice my dad ever gave me was, "You don't have to know what you want to do when you graduate from college. Take some time to figure it out." Unfortunately, me being a stress basket and all, I didn't really understand that until I was thirty.
thanks all for your feedback and encouragement!
want to know what i think... i think a lot of your dreams and aspirations were frustrated so that you would end up in the right place at the right time to meet charles, have constance, and go to central vineyard and then pursue your dreams from that very wealthy launch pad. :)
chelsea
you are right! thanks for the grounding! :)
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