One day last week I decided to take a walk during my lunch break. It was about 70 degrees, partly cloudy–the perfect day in my mind. I headed south on 18th Street with the destination of Constitution Gardens in mind. Now, a normal person would be enjoying the weather, fresh air, people watching, etc. I was in fact doing all of these things, until the people watching took a turn towards introspection.
Within blocks of my office are powerful and and influential institutions such as the World Bank and the Department of the Interior. Ya know…places where people actually make a difference in the world (whether positive or negative…I won’t touch that). Being as it was lunch time, there were lots of people milling about, coming in and out of the doors of these massive buildings. Me, being the curious yet sometimes envious person that I am, had a series of thoughts cycling through my head as I was watching these folk: How did these people get here? How does someone get a job at the World Bank? What path did they take in life to get to this point?
Naturally, these thoughts eventually turn inward. Where did I go wrong? Not that I could ever see myself working at the World Bank, but what choices could I have made differently that would have put me on a more successful path in my chosen field? For one, I KNOW I could have worked harder in school. I’m sure that if I thought really hard about it, I could come up with countless choices I could have made differently. But, eh, hindsight and all that.
If money were no object, I would have absolutely gotten my PhD. It’s really quite silly to quit at the Masters’ level in a social science field (aside from applied degrees for things like counseling and social work). I didn’t know that at the time I started grad school and felt no way near ready to complete a PhD. It’s also a shame that I don’t have a passion for chemistry or electrical engineering, for which I could likely get my PhD funded. However, I can’t choose who I am, what I’m passionate about, or where my strengths lie intellectually. I also can’t dwell on the past. I consider myself a motivated person, but I know I could do SO.MUCH.MORE. I’d like to think I’ve only scratched the surface of where I could end up with my life and career.
So yeah…now that I got all that out of the way, here are some pictures that I took on my walk.
Underemployed and Dreaming 