When I Grow Up
Recently, I mentioned on Twitter that I’ve figured out what I want to be when I grow up. A few people asked for more detail about that particular tweet. One hundred forty characters isn’t nearly enough room to clarify.
For the vast majority of my life, I’ve maintained a singular goal that I want to be a college professor. I have gone back and forth on which subject I wanted to pursue. Would it be math or physics? Maybe I’d teach computer science. I’d be completely satisfied with any of those choices. I took a few years away from school to live life and pay bills. A few years ago, I went back to school online to restart my computer science degree. While going through the motions, I didn’t have a passion about the process. I was studying computer science because it relates tangentially to my profession. Beyond that, I didn’t care and I stopped taking classes.
A week and a half ago, I was talking with Marie when Imentioned in passing that I should study sociology. I was being flippant. Who on Earth wants to spend their days teaching in the Liberal Arts wing of a university and how silly would it be for someone that professes a general loathing for people to study sociology? We had a good giggle and carried on about our day.
Turns out that the idea has stuck with me. I’ve been thinking about it constantly. I think I now know what I want to do when I grow up and actually start living life. My attitude about people in general is less about them and more about my social anxieties. I really enjoy thinking about why people do things. In my corporate life, I’ve always been more interested in the dynamics of a meeting more than the outcome of the meeting. The more I think about this life path, the more I like the idea.
Incidentally, it also means I can go back to DePaul and finish the degree I started 20 years ago. I love the idea of coming full circle and finishing what I started. As I go through the process, I’ll make sure to write about the journey here. In a few years, I’ll be able to write the blog entry announcing I am graduating. I look forward to that.
Kudos to you. Honestly I have always wanted to teach but haven’t the time to go back to school.
You don’t want to just study sociology, correct, you want to teach it at the university level? I can see you doing that. Good luck with this. =)
I figured out recently that I want to be a writer. It’s all I ever truly wanted to be in my life, but I’ve always been afraid to admit it. Sadly, though, I still need a day job until I’m as big as Stephen King or win the lottery. I’m also looking into returning to school for my MLS. Apparently, I want to be a writer and a librarian. If I have to have a day job, I want to at least enjoy it.
Yep.. Going back to DePaul is just step one of many. I woke up a few weeks ago and decided I can’t do tech work forever. It’s enjoyable. It’s easy. It’s not really rewarding. Helping my customers. Teaching my customers. That’s fun. The tech work is just tech work.