The Return of the Student: Part 2
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” -Chinese proverb
Aria and Alako, Graduation Day, May 2014
Last week, I took a big step and applied for school in the fall. The very next morning I registered for classes. I am thrilled to be taking this step, albeit kind of stunned that it is all coming together so easily. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was actually able to find open classes that fit into my schedule without interfering with my daily routine of dropping off and picking up the kids from school! Conveniently for me, the children’s school is adjusting their schedule for next year so that all students are released at the same time, rather than the staggered schedule we have now, so I can pick all three of my children up together and no one has to go to aftercare. I keep seeing signs everywhere I turn relating to the path I am choosing for myself, which I love because it feels like little signs from the universe that I am on the proper path. And this path has taken me almost four decades to find, or to choose, I cannot decide which. Either way, last week I took the first step.
Aria and Alako, 2013
I do not specifically remember the catalyst that made me go back to school ten years ago. I know it had something to do with a feeling of disappointment in myself, working a boring retail job at a huge corporation and waitressing on the side when I had expected to do big things with my life. For eight years I had worked selling supplements and natural body care items to demanding customers. I love to know the right answer so I did the necessary research to provide them with a least basic information. Much has changed, but when I worked in that industry companies invested in their representatives, hiring educated individuals who would take the retail staff out to fancy dinners for trainings, showering us generously in sample items so we knew what it was we were selling. It was an excellent tactic, as we were more likely to sell brands we trusted from our own knowledge and experience, and in turn our customers found the results they needed. The absolute best part of the job though, was customers returning to thank me. Or when the doctors from local hospitals would come in after work, still in scrubs, to ask me what products to recommend in certain categories. I used to joke that I was practicing medicine without a license.
The trouble with accumulating knowledge about health without a license to legitimize said accumulation, is that not everyone trusts that your information is true and correct. I loved guiding strangers to the products I knew would help them with what they were dealing with, but it was not lost on me how much harder it was to convince my own friends and family that I knew what I was talking about. I was frustrated by my accumulation of knowledge with no way to apply it. Initially, I considered going back to school for a degree in nutrition, thinking that would lend me the credibility to help people make the right decisions about their health, but then I began to wonder if that was really the path that was calling me. I have no interest in advising people about weight loss and I feared that was the path a nutrition degree might lead, but I do love human physiology. So, I chose to pursue my degree in Anthropology.
Hasani, one of the gorilla’s in my project.
I love human culture and I love bones. I want to hear everyone’s origin story, from everywhere in the world and I loved the idea of working in forensics, assisting law enforcement with crime scene investigation. American anthropology is divided into four subfields: biological/physical, ethnographic, archaeological, and linguistic and even now I could not tell you which one I love the most. I loved (almost) every class I took, drinking in lectures and enthusiastically reading my notes out loud to my boyfriend when I got home. I did a small, 20-hour research project on a local gorilla troupe. I wrote papers on subjects that fed my soul. I knew from the moment I walked into that building I had chosen the academic field that was exactly right for me. But at the same time, it wasn’t long before I realized a career in this field would be entirely academic. Self-directed. While every moment of academic work was rewarding and enjoyable, I knew it was temporary and that the investment required of my time might not be feasible with a four-year-old and a new baby on the way. I would not be able to run away to a two-week archaeological field study in Europe or commit to a full-time job as a research assistant, both requirements for entry in to graduate school. The possibility of continuing my education in this field dwindled with the hard reality that my little family could not just up and move to a new city just because I got into graduate school there. Raising my family had to come first. As much as I wanted to be an academic, researching and travelling to my heart’s content, it wasn’t meant to be.
Aria with her parents who provide endless support and love.
But now my family is older. My youngest is four years old, the same age my oldest one was when I graduated college the last time. All three of my children will be attending school in the fall, leaving me the opportunity to pursue the next step in my education. This time, I have a career goal, which is a game-changer, but I am a little bit superstitious so I am not ready to reveal what it is yet. I have a bad habit of getting really excited about a plan I have, telling everyone about it, then not following through. I do not want that to happen this time, so I am allowing myself the opportunity to succeed first, before telling everyone. I am thrilled to be diving back into academia, a place I feel most comfortable, regardless of the amount of time it has taken me to find this exact path. It is never too late to find your way through the woods. I have been on this planet for nearly four decades, allowing my life to unfold as organically as possible, and I finally feel that I know exactly what I want and how I’m going to get it.