Sunday, September 20, 2009

Rant #4

No, I am not going to teach. Thank you for asking.

This is the one question I always receive when people ask about my major. I know better than to say "never" about anything, but teaching is not in my plans. Most people seem to think there is nothing to do with a history degree besides teach, but there are many other options for history majors. Many go into politics or become attorneys. Also not in my plans. Many work for museums, libraries, or the National Park Service. These options are more interesting to me.

The truth is, I don't know what I'm going to do when I graduate. That isn't my focus right now. I'm not going to school because of what I might be able to do with my degree when I graduate. I'm going to school because I want to complete the education that I didn't finish when I was young. It's about the education itself, it's about the completion of something important to me. It's about learning and learning how to learn. It's about learning to think. That's all it's about. At least, for now. I don't have time to think about what comes after.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I completely relate to this post - I am also not intending to teach.I have vague plans but for me it's the 'journey'. Catching up on what I perhaps should have achieved 20 odd years ago.

Connie said...

"Vague" and "journey" are the perfect words to describe the mid-life school experience. Sometimes I feel that I have to justify (to myself, and to others) completing my degree at this stage in life, and I find the feeling to be quite annoying!