A New Direction
Now that I’ve had a chance to talk to my family, I’m ready to share a big employment decision with the wider world. Some of my friends know this already, but many people who may have been following my journey do not. I have decided to enlist in the United States Coast Guard. In fact, I signed my contract and took my Oath of Enlistment today. This is a decision I reached after many months of thought and research, and I believe it is the best path for me to take for several reasons. This is going to be a long one, so the rest of the story is below the cut.
Steps Back and Forward
The day before Thanksgiving I had to take a step back in my plans. That was the day I received my letter stating that I was not accepted to American University for January 2011. While I knew that my odds were 50/50 at the best, it was still a big disappointment for me, since I’ve been itching for a general change in my life for several months now. I’ll admit that I cried a few times after I got the news. The short, cold, dark days of winter make me a bit more susceptible to my more negative emotions. It’s been about four weeks since I got that news now. I’ve been figuring out what I want to do.
Still Runnin’…
Nothing worth doing is ever easy.
We’ve all heard the phrase a million times. And we all know it from personal experience. It often becomes our mantra when life throws us curveballs and just generally makes things difficult for us as we pursue our goals. That’s part of why this blog’s name is what it is. Pursing something will be difficult, and will be like running against the wind.
I’m leaning on this phrase heavily today. I received notice sometime within the last hour that I will not move on to the Oral Assessment of the Foreign Service in November. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t very upset to get that answer instead of the invitation to Washington for a chance to prove myself in person. But I also knew that there was a high chance that this is the answer I would get. After all, I have never been out of the country for anything more than a high school music competition. I have little formal training in economics, which is the field I want to work in. And I’m sure plenty of other candidates had both of those things.
So what this means is that my back-up plan is now the plan. Graduate school was always the path I wanted to pursue if the Service didn’t work out because it will give me the right combination of academic preparation and personal, or life, preparation. It gives me the opportunity to study abroad, meet people from around the world, and really learn about the field. Knowing that there’s no chance of the Service this time around does mean I have to re-evaluate whether or not to pursue some programs in the Spring 2011 semester. Doing so means starting my studies earlier, but possibly forgoing a chance of going to some of the best schools – which only start in the fall. It also means giving up the option of trying for a Pickering Fellowship, which would help me with both grad. school and getting work experience. I figure I have a few days to figure that one out. Today I’m just going to let myself be sad and work around the house a bit. Tomorrow I’ll start asking the tough questions.
Here We Go!
Well, yesterday was a very runaround kind of day, back and forth to my local community college. Raritan Valley is a community rather than county college because it serves both Somerset and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. After several hours in many offices I confirmed that my application had been accepted, got my ID number, talked to an advisor who told me I was doing things exactly right to realize my goals, got registered for 3 classes, got my ID card, set up my semester payment plan, and got all of my books bought or ordered. (I order used from sellers on Amazon whenever they offer me a better price than the college book store.)
Update
I completely fell off the 365 bandwagon again. I’m going to start in September and just try to document a month, and build up from there. My life stalled out in general over the past several weeks. Months have dragged by with me trying to find a position that will pay the bills, with little luck. I had a lot of ups and downs, and I doubt I will continue to have them as long as I’m in this situation of being unemployed.
