I have no idea where my school journey is going to take me. I started school to get an education, not to learn a trade. This leaves me in a bit of a quandary when people ask what I plan to do when I graduate, because I don't have an answer. At least, not an answer that most people would find satisfactory. I could go to grad school, but that still leaves the question open as to what my intentions are after yet another graduation. Why doesn't anyone seem to understand the value of an education unless it is immediately going to produce a lucrative career upon completion? The education itself is the goal, the end result, the reason I go to school. I don't have to know where it will ultimately take me.

Right now I am hoping it will take me to Ecuador next year. The Spanish department takes a group of students on a four-week trip each spring. This year they went to Spain, next year is Ecuador. Students stay with a host family and go to school each day, with three weekend outings planned. I'm dreaming of ruins and food and foreign adventures! I'm constantly thinking about how I can make this happen. It means my husband will be on his own for four weeks, which will not make him happy. It means I will be unemployed for a month and probably in search of a new job when I return. It means I need to save now for the expenses of the trip and I will need to have at least a month, or more, of expense money saved to cover my period of unemployment. Oh, and I also have to be accepted into the program. That part is actually the least of my worries. I have the prerequisites as far as the grades and the classes, I just need to apply before the group is filled. In fact, I think I'm going to need to apply as soon as the fall semester begins, even though the trip isn't until next May. I'm trying not to get too excited, just in case I don't get to go. But if you really want something, why not do try to imagine all possibilities that could make it happen? Just like going back to school as a non-trad. Make it happen.