A couple of nights ago while buying groceries, I was speaking to the young woman who was at the cash register. She spoke energetically about being on Spring Break from the University of South Florida, and how she had to start studying later in the week. I asked her “how far along” she was in her studies; her response was that she was a “sophomore again” as she had changed majors twice. Turns out she started in English and now was in the accounting field, and was very eager to get into her studies. She found that the job opportunities in English right out of school were not all that plentiful in comparison to the accounting arena. A very bright and personable student, she’s likely to do well; certainly her attitude could not have been more positive!
Amazing to me was that her story was pretty much an exact reverse of mine!
A lifetime ago, when I started at Penn State, I entered accounting for the simple reason that there were jobs in that field. However, I had been very mediocre at math throughout secondary school; a “B” was a cause for celebration, and a C was more par for the course.
In my first calculus class at Penn State, I got my one and only D as an undergrad; in the next level calculus class, my grade was solidly in the “F range” when I came to a realization. It was the “wrong fit.” Thus, I changed majors twice, to Broadcasting and eventually to English, and graduated with a B.A. And jobs in the English arena were not plentiful in an early ’80s recession for a new grad. In the next 16 years I accumulated experience in the following: radio dj, teaching, administrative support, editor, volunteer coordinator, outside sales, facility management and the running of a 24 hour crisis hotline.
All during that time, I kept wondering “where I was supposed to be” in my career path.
I was VERY frustrated by such, and kept wondering if I was a failure.
Only in ’97, did I get into recruiting/staffing, and eventually Career Services. And discovered that in those two arenas I was to find opportunities that would fit my skills and interests in a way I didn’t know possible. Plus, all of those earlier work experiences helped me in dealing with the wide range of people I’d try and help who were in the job hunt.
We never know exactly how we are going to “get there.”
And, we never know WHEN that can be.
The worst thing I did was put “timetables” on myself for where I thought I should be.
“By this time, I should…” was my line of thinking. It was tied to nothing more concrete than hope and imagination. Further, each time that didn’t work out, I got angrier at myself for “falling short.”
Some folks find a career path easily and move to it quickly.
Many of us don’t.
At nearly 50, I’ve finally learned that it’s ok, too.
• Each of us is so different from any other one that we cannot be successful if we compare ourselves to others.
• Each of us learns differently; what looks great at first (for me, teaching) may turn out to be the wrong path for many reasons.
• Each of us will learn things we think we’ll never use, and find them incredibly valuable at some unexpected time.
• Each of us has skills, talents and abilities that are in need: it just may take some time to find where that is.
For me, I tended to order mine a bit wrongly and ignore some truths about who I was. Once I got past some of that, I was able to find a career path that was rewarding, challenging, and worth looking forward to.
We all have things to offer.
Sometimes, it just takes awhile to find out the what, where, when and how.
And that if you aren’t “there now,” you are likely on the journey.
It took me until nearly 40 years on this earth to “get there.”
And it’s different for each of us.
That’s the cool thing, though: since we’re all different, we can each offer something unique and special.
Whether it’s right after school or 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 years later!
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