Decisions Decisions

This past weekend I attended a bridal shower (woot woot Katie!) and had a lovely time. At the end I met friend of Katie's who knew me to be one of her former roommates and wanted to know what I was up to. She asked where I live and what I do for a living. I informed her I live in Des Moines and that I am a nanny, still trying to figure out my life. Which is very much true. I left a less than stellar experience as a financial advisor that requires hefty tests to prove intelligence to become a nanny that requires no formal training, just a care of children and an ability to creatively problem solve on a regular basis. To be completely honest being a nanny was last ditch effort to leave my previous job. I needed a new job and was rather desperate but that's a topic for a later discussion when I am more distanced from the company.

But anyway, back to the original point of this post! Lately I've been doing a lot of self-evaluation, career wise. What do I want? (I don't know) What do I not want? (Lengthy list) It is a lot of research and online quizzes and reading to drum up a list of possibilities to consider and rule out from there. Life is complicated and to make matters worse college students are forced to choose a major that will likely define their career choices from here on out. Sure, sometimes you can make a sweeping change and a place is willing to train you on the fly but most of the world is to busy to take on such a task. I graduated from college with a degree in psychology. At graduation, I thought I knew what I wanted to do with that degree. As I experimented in other jobs my thoughts changed and I began to stretch my psychology degree further.

Being a psych major is a blessing and a curse: so many options almost too many options. Therapist, human resources specialist, guidance counselor, psychologist, researcher, psych tech. The list goes on forever because the major is so inclusive and adaptable; that is part of why I loved it in the first place. I entered college with a vague idea of what I wanted to do with my life and left with virtually the same feeling. It was a struggle at times to be very certain about some things (like choosing a major) and clueless about other things (what to pursue with said major). I envy the people that stepped foot on campus knowing what they wanted as an end result and made it happen from day one. Kudos to you! I envy the people that took a life altering class that gave them a proverbial shove in the direction of their dreams. I also envy the people that walked into a major with a very practical application and jobs waiting for them at graduation. It takes all kinds to make the world go round. Imagine if everyone was a doctor or an accountant or a teacher or a lawyer. If we all were the same what would honestly happen? Chaos and destruction I assume. I laid on my dorm room floor many times contemplating everything life had to offer and how I planned to choose something. Ha, not one has worked. But thanks to every roommate that laid there with me and tried to solve world problems.

We all have a life path ahead of us and we cannot forget the part of the trail we already blazed in our rearview mirror. It was important to you once and likely still should be. I don't even remember now why I took Psych 130- General Psychology, in the first place but I'm certianly glad I did. Growing up is a process and you never stop growing. Some times you feel like you might be shrinking or shriveling and then within a few weeks you feel like you are taking off on a growth spurt like a teenage boy over summer vacation. But it's all growth, I promise, and it is all propeling you to the best end result you can possibly imagine; full of happiness and fulfillment.