Career

I've had a hard time in my life following a traditional career path. I like things in phases, and I find it extremely hard to commit myself to doing one thing for 40-50 years of my life. Here's a list of jobs I used to want:

1) Veterinarian - I wanted this until I found out you have to put animals to sleep. Not for me.

2) Professional Dancer - not THAT kind of dancer. I took dance lessons for years, but we kept moving, so my training was not very consistent. My heart still aches a little every time I see a show with a dancing chorus. I never wanted to be the lead, I just wanted to participate.

3) Astronomer - I really wanted to do this until I took physics. That cured me. My heart beats faster though every time I read a news story about some satellite that has reached Neptune or wherever and starts sending back pictures. I watched that "Nova" about the robots they sent to Mars, and I actually cried like it was a cheesy Hallmark movie.

4) English professor - because I like literature. I stopped wanting this because I don't really like teaching, yet I'm right on track to fulfill this dream.

5) Wedding Planner - I still want to do this, too. I actually started to help a girl I knew who was starting her own wedding business, and I realized how much marketing goes into this. Ugh. I just want to make the schedule and tell other people how to spend their time. I would be EXCELLENT at that. Plus, you have to work weekends in this job. Boo.

6) Writer - this dream is still alive. I have a few writing projects in the works. But first, I want to get my Master's degree.

7) Editor - I got a publishing job when I got back from France, and I loved it. It just wasn't in the right field. I just started working at the SMU journal, and I loooooooove it. Yesterday, the editor plunked down the final draft of the latest issue in front of me and said, "You know what to do" (seriously - this is all the training I got), and luckily for all parties, I DID know what to do. That junk is all marked up. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one, so I can mark it up, too, and I can't WAIT to do actual copyediting. I am really good at this, and I really like to do it. Too bad I'm not getting paid.