For this Blog project, I encourage you to allow yourself to search the internet and look for those gold mine websites that will really help you achieve your dream. And your dream may or may not be related to the subject area that you are studying. Though I suggest a "Career" journal, by career I do not mean simply a "job." I mean what you would really love to be paid to do.
Believe it or not, I struggled through high school and really had no sense of what I wanted to study or do when I graduated. I always did pretty well in school so my teachers assumed I wanted to go to college. But I was afraid of going to college because I was so undecided about what I wanted to do. So I delayed applying to colleges. Then, a year after my high school graduation when I finally did apply to the local state university, I was rejected. They said my grades and test scores were good, but I seemed to lack committment. They suggested I study at a two-year community college first to see if I could maintain my interest and grades. I went to the local community college and enrolled in the "Liberal Arts (Humanities) transfer" program. It was in my first semester literature course with a wild and passionate professor that got me dreaming about teaching literature. I always loved to read and talk and think about the books I read, especially complicated stories or even philosophy or poetry. I also liked thinking about social and political problems and thinking about imaginative ways to solve them. My first English professor showed me that all these interests could be engaged by studying literature deeply, and I could get paid to think (and write) about all these things as a literature professor. So that little glimpse of a dream-life was planted in my fertile brain.
I tell you this, because even though my
very first semester at college I finally had an idea of what in my wildest fantasy I imagined that I wanted to do in life -- I buried that dream and never even allowed myself to explore it. Instead, I became a "practical" student and decided to take all the "required" courses to finish "quickly" so I could transfer to the state school to complete my B.A. where I would be funnelled into the education department. I did want to teach it was true, but I ignored the dream of pursuing literary studies and a PhD, because ... well, I don't know why, really. I probably thought it was just a sillly, naive dream and nothing more. But, then again, I think it was also because there was no one there to say to me: "Go ahead -- check it out. Explore the world of English literary studies. See what it would take for you to study a PhD in literature; see what it entails. See if that is something you are willing to dedicate the next 5-8 years doing. See if you have what it takes. Dare to dream!"
In the end I did gather up the courage, and now I am a professor of English -- and just a few months away from getting my PhD in English literature. It just took me about fifteen years longer than it really needed to if I had started out when I had first had that glimmer of desire to be an English professor. So the lesson here is
dare to dream -- go out there and explore - look for people and work that you admire and would be honored to be paid to do. And then see where it takes you. Every accomplishment we make in life begins with some vague sense of "Now that would be really cool!"
Of course for the Blog project assignment, I want you to not only to dream, but to document and write about your dreaming and exploring process. Be sure to check out the Project Assignment page on the class wiki for details.
Happy dreaming ....
