I've started contemplating the different things I could do with next semester. It is partly fun and partly scary.
My plans fall into three basic categories;
Category 1: Continue paramedics for another semester (groan).
Category 2: find a new direction and appropriate course and commence it in semester 2.
Category 3: find a new direction, start appropriate course next year if not available for semester 2 start and get to work on all those little things on my life "to do" list that I never get enough time for.
What I have learned so far from my researching is that there are a lot of very expensive, very wanky sounding graduate level qualifications out there that will do nothing to increase your employ-ability.
I don't blame the universities. It has been a thousand years since they were adequately funded, so they create degrees that people want to study even though for every 100 students they accept, there is only one poorly paid entry level job for them all to compete for upon graduation .
Most of them are basically graduate level, coursework based Arts degrees; interesting to study but shit all employment outcomes (as distinct from the actual Master of Arts, which is research based). Since I already have a "fun to study, but not all that useful" degree, I am not in the market for a second.
There are so many options out there. I wish I could skip off to Hogwarts, put on the sorting hat and have it tell me what I should be doing.
However, Harry's encounter with the sorting hat was one of many moments where JK Rowling poignantly reminds us that it is the decisions we make that most shape our outcomes, not our genetics and not the things that happen to us.
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| http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Sorting_Hat |
There are so many things I want to and I don't like the idea of having to invest my time going in one direction knowing that as soon as I do that other possibilities will pass. However, I do know that if I don't properly channel my energies into something, I waste all my time agonising and I won't achieve anything like the level of success I so want for myself in any area at all.
I am now starting to understand why in high school (especially snooty private schools like the ones I went to) they just tell you what to do. It is hard to work out where you fit in in the world and it is just easier if someone comes along and else tells you.
In other news, my younger brother is currently in London on a tour of the UK with his school cricket team. It is meant to be a cricket tour however every match scheduled thus far has been washed out. He still seems to be having a fantastic time and today he will have an (indoor) net session at Lord's. Those of us back home are just a little bit jealous.
On the weekend I got a little gift from my Dad for no reason. I will admit to being a fan of receiving gifts for any reason, but there is something especially lovely about receiving a gift purely because the giver saw something and thought of you.
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| Yay! Present |
So if anyone out there has any idea as to what I should be doing with my life, please let me know in a comment!
Perhaps journalism, so you can follow RAFA and write stories to match those wonderful pictures of his beautiful body?? just a thought!!
ReplyDeleteIt's the hardest question and I dont think that anyone interesting will ever finish trying to answer it.
ReplyDeleteThe only advice I can give you is what I've learnt by doing things the long way. If you like what you studied and want a career in something somewhat related do all you can to get any job in an organization that you like. Extra study in an interesting arts coursework degree will help eventually but it wont help you get the entry level job. If anything it may make it harder. Once you start to have a vague idea as to where that could lead think about how further study might help.
The job I have now is in admin and a high school grad could do it. However, my boss gives me lots of extra interesting work just because I have a masters degree. I'm hoping that this path will lead to a great job in a few jobs time.
It's a little depressing but not a lost cause.
Perhaps you should just go on sabbatical and contemplate your existence for a while instead. :-)
Hey Anna. I have often thought about how you did so well in you Arts, did a language as your major with honours, did your Masters and STILL had such a tough time finding work. But then again, as you would know, a job is important but being able to jump straight into a career oriented job post graduation isn't the be all and end all. I am starting to think that taking a bit of time away from study might be what is in order. Thanks so much for your comment & I hope you are well :)
DeleteCategory 4: set up peanut butter cup factory, mass produce and get rich. Surely this will work if they are half as yummy as appears. I have never heard of them.
ReplyDeleteTehehe brilliant idea, they are dangerously delicious! Unsurprisingly, Mum and Dad think they're yucky :)
DeleteBut they could easily be adapted to something yummy :)
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