Happy November, everybody! Isn’t it incredible how fast this semester has been moving? Goodness gracious. I honestly can’t even process how quickly the past few months have gone.

If you remember, last week I spoke a bit about the seminars that Books & Such Literary Agency presented to the school. Today I am going to touch on those seminars a bit more, but also tie them into something very important that one of my interviewees told me this summer.

Talia was an American Studies major who graduated in 1989 (nbd, just the year that Taylor Swift was born). While originally she didn’t think she was on the right path after graduation, as she worked for a department store corporation fully aware it was not what she wanted to spend her time doing, she kept an open mind.

“I really feel that the whole approach to my life has been [centered about] what I wanted out of it. And that made me more open.” Her words rang in my mind, but until now I haven’t fully had the chance to explore their meaning. While Talia was not sure exactly where she would end up, she knew what was important to her and what she had to have to be happy. Because she didn’t restrict herself to one set career, she was open to taking unexpected opportunities and finding work in areas she never would have considered.

At the seminars, Janet gave the students a handout entitled “What Values are Most Important to You in a Potential Profession?” The directions instructed them to choose three of the following: Creativity, Financial Security, Fame, Social Justice, Fun, Service to Others, Self-Development, Faith, Self-expression, Influence, Entertain Others, Family-Centric, Quality of Life, Team-Oriented, Opportunity to Persuade Others, Mental Stimulation, Satisfy Intellectual Curiosity, and Expand Understanding of the World/Society.

Let me tell you a secret: I could not do this exercise. The bolded words above are the ones I narrowed down to, but honestly other than that…well I refused to eliminate one. And you should have seen how long it took me to get it down to four. Agh.

However, this exercise reminded me of Talia’s words. She kept her priorities in line and she was able to make a path for herself based off her loose definition of future. Now, I don’t know what exactly those priorities were, but in the end it paid off. She ended up starting her own company and she has been loving it.

I have been going back and forth so much lately about what I want to do, stressing about the many different career paths I am starting to fall in love with. Even more, I am stressing that I won’t end up on any of my desired paths. But, honestly, I think I need to change from here on out the way I think about my future. No longer will I worry about what the career title is, rather what the job entails. If it provides me financial security, self-development, self-expression, and satisfies my intellectual curiosity…well, I will make sure to give it a chance. Yes, I love books and want to be absorbed in their world 24/7, but that doesn’t mean if I don’t end up there right away I won’t get there someday. For now I will just focus on my priorities and what I want to get out of my life.
What do you think? Is it better to have a set career path in mind, or are you willing to be open to a job you never would have thought about taking as long as it satisfies all your priorities? Also, what values from the list are most important to you?