About this time last year, my ex-girlfriend (after we had broken up) said to me something that I'll never forget:
I hated that phrase and still do because I think it misses two things (1) life happens and things sometimes just don't go the why we plan - for better or worse and (2) some people don't know what they want to do in life in general - and that's ok. Over the weekend, I had two interactions with adults during two specific Princeton-related events that really gave me some insight into what I'm doing right now and where I'm headed in the upcoming months.
First on Saturday after the Association of Black Princeton Alumni, I received a ride to the Shady Grove Metro Station from an older alum in the Class of 1974. It was about a ten minute drive from the BBQ to the Metro Station, but in that time we covered a lot of ground. The highlight of this drive was the following exchange (I'm paraphrasing here):
The second eye popping moment happened yesterday while I was on the Why Princeton? information panel for high school juniors in downtown D.C. When the moderator asked me "what I did after graduating?" - I was perfectly honest:
Wow - I needed to hear that. And that's real stuff.
Some people know what they want to do and do it - awesome stuff!
Conversely, there are other folks who are not quite sure what they want to do yet - and that's cool as well. Does it make me any less of an adult that I don't know the exact path I want to embark on - I don't think so. The funny thing is that one of these days - probably while I'm at my desk at work - it's going to hit me; and when it does, I'm going for it.
I'll have a little more to say about this later, but for now I'll leave you with this thought: I launched a website today: http://www.digitalpromise.org/
:)
"Adults have a plan"
I hated that phrase and still do because I think it misses two things (1) life happens and things sometimes just don't go the why we plan - for better or worse and (2) some people don't know what they want to do in life in general - and that's ok. Over the weekend, I had two interactions with adults during two specific Princeton-related events that really gave me some insight into what I'm doing right now and where I'm headed in the upcoming months.
First on Saturday after the Association of Black Princeton Alumni, I received a ride to the Shady Grove Metro Station from an older alum in the Class of 1974. It was about a ten minute drive from the BBQ to the Metro Station, but in that time we covered a lot of ground. The highlight of this drive was the following exchange (I'm paraphrasing here):
Me: (Referring to a friend) Yep she has everything planned and all of her ducks in a row.
The Alum: (chuckles) I always smile when younger people present their plan all laid out.
Me: Because stuff happens?
The Alum: Because life happens.
The second eye popping moment happened yesterday while I was on the Why Princeton? information panel for high school juniors in downtown D.C. When the moderator asked me "what I did after graduating?" - I was perfectly honest:
- Spent the summer and fall job hunting and figuring things out (while watching lots of Sportscenter and NFL Network - I actually did say this).
- Worked as an administrative assistant and receptionist at a non-profit - N4A (love you guys!)
- Became a Princeton Project 55 Fellow in last month.
During the Q&A portion of the panel, one young man asked me and my co-panelist what was Princeton's biggest strength and greatest weakness. For a strength, I talked about my school's generosity on every level - from top to bottom. And before I said the weakness, I hesitated... and answered it's Career Services, because they couldn't help someone like me who wasn't as focus or knew what he wanted to do (I did qualify this, by saying my lack of direction was on me).
After the program, that same young man came up to me and thanked me for my honesty - and so did his mother. She told me that she had gone to Barnard back in the 70s and also was a receptionist for her first job out of college. Then she said something that I didn't exactly expect -
"I'm so much older than you and I still don't know what I want to do and that's ok. What's important is that you're happy and able to support your family."
Wow - I needed to hear that. And that's real stuff.
Some people know what they want to do and do it - awesome stuff!
Conversely, there are other folks who are not quite sure what they want to do yet - and that's cool as well. Does it make me any less of an adult that I don't know the exact path I want to embark on - I don't think so. The funny thing is that one of these days - probably while I'm at my desk at work - it's going to hit me; and when it does, I'm going for it.
I'll have a little more to say about this later, but for now I'll leave you with this thought: I launched a website today: http://www.digitalpromise.org/
:)
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