Letters from Grenada

Please note that while the following does indeed constitute something resembling advice, it’s more of a cautionary tale than a how-to essay. Please note as well that I’m almost 33 and still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.

When I applied to college, it asked on the application what our intended major was. It wasn’t binding or anything, I guess they just wanted to know my general intention. I wrote “history”. I chose it because I liked it as much as “english” but it was harder (for me) and I thought I shouldn’t pick something that was too easy. 

I’m not saying that makes sense. I’m just saying that was my thought process at the time.

Anyhoo. So I started school and became a history major for no other real reason than I liked it and they wouldn’t make me read any of the dead white people I didn’t care to meet again. I also took French and Spanish every semester because that was my true passion and I just could not resist.

Sophomore year I officially declared my major, got myself an advisor and continued to do my language thing too. The heart of the plot here is that I honestly didn’t give it a whole lot of conscious thought. I just went with the flow. When you’re a liberal arts major it doesn’t even matter that much what you study. You just learn how to write and how to make sense and how to make pseudo highbrow small talk at parties. So I just kept doing what felt right and figured I’d sort myself out re: what I wanted to do with my life eventually.

The sorting? Never happened. I could go on for hours about that part, but it’s besides the point.

Junior year I realized I had enough credits for a French major so I declared that too.

Meanwhile, every summer I was working at a Medicaid managed care plan. After graduation they hired me full-time and so public health and policy became my career. So did marketing, translation and project management. Oh and not-for-profit fundraising. And web design. And event planning. And teaching. All in the same job. Whatever I didn’t know – and there was plenty I didn’t know – I taught myself. I asked lots of questions. I watched and listened to people who knew what they were doing. I let myself be mentored.

I realized long after that what I had learned in college was how to learn. That what I had majored in didn’t really matter and that education merely fine-tuned my mind and gave me lots of tools that were adaptable to all sorts of work. What DID matter was the summer employment. That’s where I learned everything I know about computers. That’s where I learned about office politics. That’s where I learned about the professional world. That’s where I learned that responsibility sometimes means asking for help. That’s where I learned that the most important things you know you know because you did them.

To be honest, the fact that I just kind of fell into a major is something I might go back and change if I could. Now, fifteen years later it’s easy for me to see alternate paths I could have taken. Some of those alternate paths might have been better for me. Like, for example, enjoying the Florida sun and beach and having fun while learning at art institute miami. But there’s no way to know for sure, and, more importantly, everything turned out fine anyway. No matter how much you plan, there will always be something you can’t anticipate. Just keep picking up skills and doing things you find compelling and paying attention as your life’s path takes shape. Don’t expect to start out knowing where you’re going. Don’t worry if you change your mind along the way. And, most of all, just don’t sweat it.

Posted on December 10th, 2009 under Grenada • Tags: advice, cautionary tale, college, essay, LIFE, major, university. •  Print This Post •  Email This Post • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed