When I Grow Up...

These past few days have been filled with interviews, endless searching through job boards, and completing program applications. It's got me thinking a lot about what we want to be when we grow up. It's a standard question we ask a child (I remember when my little brother wanted to be a cave...) and it always can be a good topic of conversation.

What I Wanted to Be as a Child:

1. Teacher

2. Astronaut

3. Camp Tecumseh Counselor

4. Choir Teacher

And then I entered college, and that became the most stressful question I could be asked. I cycled through majors...

My Majors:

1. Music Education

2. Open Business

3. Psychology & Business

4. Psychology, Marketing, & Management

5. Psychology & Public Relations

6. (This one's the winner!) Psychology with a minor in business & concentration in human resources

and with each change came a new set of career aspirations. I wanted to teach or to work for the New York Philharmonic, or maybe be a counselor or get my PhD. The possibilities were endless and with each new possibility came so much more stress. I realized I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up and if that was the case, how on earth was I supposed to pick a major!? Nevertheless, I got to my one major (and I still feel pretty good about it) and am now a semester away from graduating. Though I cannot give you an answer when I'm asked what I want to do next year, I can tell you who I want to be when I grow up.

When I Grow Up, I Want to Be...

1. Creative

2. Free spirited

3. Loving

4. Generous of my time, talents, and money

5. Wise

6. Peaceful

7. Known as a good listener

8. A woman of God

9. Strong

10. Joyful

With all of this focus on finding a job and figuring out what I want to "do," I think it is important to remember that the job you have does not define who you are. Yes, I want to love my job, but my job will not limit what I am able to do and it will not define who I am going to be. Someone very wise once told me that you should "never ask what you want to do before you know who you want to be." So as I'm figuring out what my life is going to look like in five months I am going to continue to focus on who I want to be. I know that if I focus my energy towards that, what I do will naturally fall into place.