Two Weeks Left

If you had asked me two years ago what I'd be doing on my quarter-century birthday, I would have never guessed I'd be starting a career in law enforcement with the National Park Service, protecting the some of the most beautiful, ecologically/biologically valuable, and culturally significant places in the United States. I majored in anthropology because I love people - I focused in linguistic anthropology because I've always been fascinated by expression and symbolism - I knew when I went to college that I wanted to make a contribution with my life, but I don't think I really knew how. Although I'd always had my hopes to land one of those jobs where you get paid to do what you love, and come home feeling good about yourself every evening, when the economy started to decline, I resigned myself to a life of leading consumer focus groups and product survey design. And I say "resigned" not to disparage anyone who is in that particular field, but because it's just not the sort of career that really speaks to who I am as a person, or what I value.

That's why, right now, on the cusp of graduation I'm so anxious and to be finished and in awe of everything that's happened up until this point. I'm just a few short steps from the start of a really grand change in my life, and my future stretches out into the horizon and off breathtaking vistas, sites of triumph, and memorials of somber remembrance. It's really great to have a career right out of college; it's even better to have one with purpose.

Only two more weeks to go.