Career Services Blog

 

 

This is a haunting question for many people when faced with unhappiness or the idea that they may not be pursuing their passion. It is also what the newly unemployed ask themselves when their lives are no longer defined by a steady check, but late fees, disconnection notices, collection calls, and all of the rest of the difficulties that afflict those with a forced career change. Regardless of what the circumstance: chosen or forced, financially stable or living check to check, young or seasoned, we all ask ourselves---"What should I do with my life?"---That's why for this first blog I wanted to discuss this question and the book by Po Bronson with the same title, because it is something I have really been wondering about at this point in my life.

 

For anyone reading, my name is Gustavo Adolfo. I am from the Dominican Republic. Yes, I am Latin. No, I do not know how to dance Salsa. Yes, I love baseball. No, I don't play dominos. Yes, I know my name is hard to pronounce. No, I do not have a nickname. A little more about me… I have bitten my fingernails since high school, and right now all of my fingers hurt from the abuse. I've been listening to Lauryn Hill's "The Conquering Lion" for the past 3 days straight. Only this song. And, yes, I hate that she has not released a new album in years. No, I do not think that being a full-time mother is a great reason to have kept her gift from the world. Yes, my feminist BFF has debated this with me too many times. We have agreed to disagree.  I am also banned from Zona Rosa, and Oak Park Mall, because KCP&L, and T-Mobile, for some reason think some of that money should go to them instead of the clothes I so desperately need.

 

Annnnnnnywhoooooo,

 

I will let ya'll know that I am a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, majoring in Romance Languages and Literature, which means I am fluent in Spanish, and am working on Italian (my third). Expected graduation date-May 2010. What do I want to do with all of that, hmmpph? That's what I've been working towards, yet am still worried about.

 

The author of the book What Should I Do With My Life, Po Bronson says the following about how he felt when he started this book:

 

I thought the Question was a scourge on our society, a contagious mental virus transmitted via verbal exchanges. But I'm starting to see that the Question serves a valuable role. The Question is how we hold ourselves accountable to the opportunity we're given. We live in a rich country, so rich that we're blessed with the ultimate privilege: to be true to our individual nature. (20)

 

"The privilege to be true to our individual nature". Wow!!! That is why I love this book; because the message is so very true, so very powerful, that we can't deny its truth. If there is anything great about being in America, it's that though it may be a tough path, we can eventually live the life we have always wanted to.

 

The book, which I am rereading (though I should be doing other homework), is extremely interesting. It is interviews of about 55 people ranging from male to female, young and old, Asian or American, CEO's and college students, who all made drastic changes in their lives in order to answer that question which has been eating away at their souls like a starved animal. I was definitely more concerned about this confusion five years ago when I first read this. However, now, though I have been volunteering, working on campus and getting some teaching experience, my choice is a Ph. D. program or a real job for the first time in my life. I will say that I am a non-traditional student, which means I am older. That is one of my fears, how to transition from student to employee, with an actual career, not just a job.

 

It's interesting cause as I am typing this I am thinking of how I have been dreaming of these things: having a masters degree, being a professor, and finally having the security and stability to repair my credit-buy a home-travel the world-or country (at least)----start a family-make my mother proud. Now that the dreams are coming to fruition, it is difficult to not feel nervous about it really happening and whether I made the right decisions.

 

Another book I love is The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, which is about following your dreams and the path to them. It presents the difficulties, the love that may prevent one from continuing, the money that may detract us from seeking to fulfill our true goals and how when we truly want something "the whole universe conspires to make that dream come true." I can only say that when I finally set out to finish my degrees, and begin my career path--- life, God, the universe, or whatever you choose to call it--- has surrounded me with a wonderful group of people. From students with a great work ethic and same frustrations, fears and goals; writers, poets, and artists, from all walks of life and genres: rap, visual, literary, musical, etc. who have guided, mentored, sistered, mothered, brothered, fathered, friended---studied, analyzed, reminded, gone without sleep, kept me accountable, laughed, tried to teach me to dance, cried, hated me, scolded me---- and basically loved and supported me throughout every step of this process.  And the book could not be more right.

 

I guess I should say that the reason I am mentioning these two books is that, to me, the "dream" is the seed, and college or the work and things we do to accomplish them, is the nurturing. They are the sunlight, the rain, the pruning, and the weeding. They are all of the work and care that we put into our lives and our families to be successful, and though, like a garden, some plants, flowers, or herbs take time to grow, and/or may not bloom at all, we must continue to tend to it.

 

With that said, I would and highly recommend that anyone who has the time, when not doing homework, raising children, working, or applying for work, and can read any one of these books to do so. I have read The Alchemist every year since 1999, and am always gifting it to people I care about. I just bought an illustrated version from Amazon and this time, my significant other, my princess, decided to gift my book….my special-life enriching- life changing- must have- manual for daily inspiration-to a young girl she felt would appreciate it. And we had just begun to read it. Ok, I'm sorry, she had her heart in the right place, so I am glad she gave it away, just giving her a bad time, since I feel she may be one of a few people to read this, though I hope I'm wrong.

 

Finally, to end this blog I am also including a poem.  I will honestly try to end with a poem for several reasons: 1, because I love poetry; 2, because I hope all of the million readers of this blog also love poetry or will learn to love it; and 3, because like Jerry Springer, I want to end with a positive Final Thought.

 

Did you like how the readers have grown from a few people to a million in just a few paragraphs? The ego on this guy. Did you also like how I combined something so cultural and beautiful as poetry with Jerry Springer who we know does not have the greatest reputation (to say the least)? LOL. That's what I do, I try to keep it interesting. LOL.

 

Please keep reading, I promise it will get better.