Realized I haven’t given you guys an update on my life in a while, so I figured I might as well while I’ve got the time. In short:
I joined the Peace Corps.
The benevolent wills of 1,000 angels nor the vengeful wrath of 1,000 demons could end all this paperwork
The plane leaves in March for Indonesia, I’ll be a secondary English education teacher there (assuming everything works out) until 2019
Maybe my family will leave me out of its incessant bickering once I’m an actual expanse of ocean away from them (I’m feeling lucky)
I (hopefully) graduate in December.
Bachelor’s of Arts in English (Writing Specialization), minor in U.S. History
If the History Department changes its curriculum one more time I’m dumping 46 tons of tea in their parking lot
Do your general education coursework at a community college if you can kids, you’ll save sooooo much money
Being intelligent is often a prerequisite for being a professor, but apparently not for running a friggin’ college campus
A college education is not necessary to succeed, but if you have the option consider it
I work on campus now, been about a year since I left retail.
Yes retail deserves to die, and I hope it burns in hell
One $0.25 raise over a two year span for working 8+ hour days across six different stores in various departments is bullshit
I work on-campus as a writing tutor now
My bosses, coworkers, and students also love me
To see them succeed gives me a feeling of pride I didn’t think I was capable of feeling
I figured out what I want to do when I grow up.
I want to promote education not where it is, but where the people with a desire to learn wish for it to be. I don’t feel people should have to face insurmountable odds or even the threat of death in order to simply learn knowledge that they can use to help themselves and others should they wish to do so
This actually has a lot to do with why I joined the Peace Corps
It only took 22 bloody years (so don’t ever feel like you have to have anything figured out from the start, like ever)
I still have STPD, carry excessive amounts of guilt for the wrongs I’ve committed, experience (near weekly) existential crises, can’t stand my body, and struggle to form connections with others.
Suffering is an essential thread in this multi-faceted quilt we call being human
It sucks, but it helps us grow and pushes us to achieve outcomes we never believed possible
Never doubt/limit yourself
When in peril keep going so that you may sooner find somewhere you wish to be
You are the most qualified individual to walk in your own shoes
Should you find that no place exists for you where you are, make one for yourself
Know that you deserve good things
Reach out if you need to talk about something
If you have no one else, I will happily listen
I love you my friends, and strangers I wish for us to be friends so that I may love you too