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The specter of the real world
Apr. 5th, 2005 04:53 pmI know what’s been bothering me. The specter of the real world, being able to choose to do anything I want. My scheming roommate and I discussed what was bothering me…and him.
When you’re growing up, you’re often told that you can do anything you want. You can be anything you want. What they neglect to tell you is that freedom comes at a price. The price is that you are responsible for your decisions. The funny thing is that no one ever tells you, “Hey, dude, you’re an adult now.” Nope, it just kind of dawns on you one day.
Nobody can tell you what to do. Nobody is going to wake up you up in the morning but yourself. Sure, your alarm can blare in the morning all it wants, but you can easily turn it off. You can watch TV all day if you want and nobody can stop you. Of course, you’ll eventually get hungry or tired and so you’ll have to search for a job of some sort. Or beg from your parents and friends.
For so long, all I’ve done is try to please my parents. But I realize the only true way to please my parents would have to become a doctor, in the MD sense. Some part of me rebelled against that notion, though not fully, which landed me in electrical engineering. Circuits are interesting, but they weren’t my purpose in life. It was doing my research on the Vietnam War that struck a chord in me, leading to a chain of events that allowed me to become a history major.
But now, I don’t know if I want to teach high school or college. I read over my Truman Application and one of the things that stood out with me is the fact that I talked about the problem with education. It harkened back to what my high school chemistry teacher once told me.
If I pursued the high school path, I could be doing what I want in three to four years (and I would prefer teaching in Arkansas or Oklahoma). The professor path would be a long and arduous journey through French, Vietnamese, and possibly Chinese. Both would be costly, and for the first time I realize that I am the only one who can make that decision. And there won’t be some red line that I will cross to let me know that I’ve chosen wisely. I wake up with that uncertainty everyday, and it’s causing me to lose focus.
I’m like a ship that doesn’t know where it wants to sail to. Oh, I can sail far and wide, but it’s all pointless traveling without a destination. Limits, I need remember what my limits are.
I can choose freely, but I am not free of the consequences.
When you’re growing up, you’re often told that you can do anything you want. You can be anything you want. What they neglect to tell you is that freedom comes at a price. The price is that you are responsible for your decisions. The funny thing is that no one ever tells you, “Hey, dude, you’re an adult now.” Nope, it just kind of dawns on you one day.
Nobody can tell you what to do. Nobody is going to wake up you up in the morning but yourself. Sure, your alarm can blare in the morning all it wants, but you can easily turn it off. You can watch TV all day if you want and nobody can stop you. Of course, you’ll eventually get hungry or tired and so you’ll have to search for a job of some sort. Or beg from your parents and friends.
For so long, all I’ve done is try to please my parents. But I realize the only true way to please my parents would have to become a doctor, in the MD sense. Some part of me rebelled against that notion, though not fully, which landed me in electrical engineering. Circuits are interesting, but they weren’t my purpose in life. It was doing my research on the Vietnam War that struck a chord in me, leading to a chain of events that allowed me to become a history major.
But now, I don’t know if I want to teach high school or college. I read over my Truman Application and one of the things that stood out with me is the fact that I talked about the problem with education. It harkened back to what my high school chemistry teacher once told me.
If I pursued the high school path, I could be doing what I want in three to four years (and I would prefer teaching in Arkansas or Oklahoma). The professor path would be a long and arduous journey through French, Vietnamese, and possibly Chinese. Both would be costly, and for the first time I realize that I am the only one who can make that decision. And there won’t be some red line that I will cross to let me know that I’ve chosen wisely. I wake up with that uncertainty everyday, and it’s causing me to lose focus.
I’m like a ship that doesn’t know where it wants to sail to. Oh, I can sail far and wide, but it’s all pointless traveling without a destination. Limits, I need remember what my limits are.
I can choose freely, but I am not free of the consequences.
