Plan ABCDE
A heads-up: last week's This American Life reran "Plan B", the episode featuring John Hodgman's classic story on Cuervo Man. The download is free until Sunday, at the official site and iTunes.
The topic matter -- going with your Plan B when your original goals don't work out -- made me wonder just how many people are lucky enough to do that. I suppose I'm one of the few who is on her Plan A. I didn't actually want to become a teacher until my second semester of being an English major ... and realizing that I kinda wanted to have a job after graduation. I didn't really give much thought to teaching until grad school, but soon it really *clicked*. I've been at it for twelve years now, and I can't imagine doing anything else. (It helps that I have great job security... except the district is about to start a big round of layoffs, and we've run out of county money for supplies, including paper. Yikes.)
Sometimes I do wonder what else I might've done with my (professional) life. I've been known to fantasize about being a hot-but-very-cool screenwriter; these daydreams usually coincide with awards shows. ;) When I was a kid, I could spend hours creating blueprints for all the things I'd build as a fancy architect, and these days I loooove staring at maps and pretty much anything cartography-related. I seem to be very spacial-oriented! Those were always fun for me -- not careers I would seriously pursue (mostly due to a lack of talent). As with nearly everyone else on Earth, however, I sometimes get caught up in the "What if?"s.
The one big surprise has been how resistant to change I am as an adult. I'd always assumed I would be a peripatetic soul who hopped from one exciting city to another. Instead, I've lived in the same metro Atlanta apartment complex for nine years, and I have no desire to change. I think sometimes I'm profoundly lazy a bit too set in my ways!
So, out of curiosity ... how many of you are still on your professional Plan A? (And by that I mean people who have been out of HS/college for a few years, when you're more settled into the-rest-of-your-life.) If not, then what made you change your plans? Was the change for the better or worse?
The topic matter -- going with your Plan B when your original goals don't work out -- made me wonder just how many people are lucky enough to do that. I suppose I'm one of the few who is on her Plan A. I didn't actually want to become a teacher until my second semester of being an English major ... and realizing that I kinda wanted to have a job after graduation. I didn't really give much thought to teaching until grad school, but soon it really *clicked*. I've been at it for twelve years now, and I can't imagine doing anything else. (It helps that I have great job security... except the district is about to start a big round of layoffs, and we've run out of county money for supplies, including paper. Yikes.)
Sometimes I do wonder what else I might've done with my (professional) life. I've been known to fantasize about being a hot-but-very-cool screenwriter; these daydreams usually coincide with awards shows. ;) When I was a kid, I could spend hours creating blueprints for all the things I'd build as a fancy architect, and these days I loooove staring at maps and pretty much anything cartography-related. I seem to be very spacial-oriented! Those were always fun for me -- not careers I would seriously pursue (mostly due to a lack of talent). As with nearly everyone else on Earth, however, I sometimes get caught up in the "What if?"s.
The one big surprise has been how resistant to change I am as an adult. I'd always assumed I would be a peripatetic soul who hopped from one exciting city to another. Instead, I've lived in the same metro Atlanta apartment complex for nine years, and I have no desire to change. I think sometimes I'm profoundly lazy a bit too set in my ways!
So, out of curiosity ... how many of you are still on your professional Plan A? (And by that I mean people who have been out of HS/college for a few years, when you're more settled into the-rest-of-your-life.) If not, then what made you change your plans? Was the change for the better or worse?