"If people are made of their own conclusions, I can only say that I’m not yet done.

Monday, February 19, 2001

"If people are made of their own conclusions, I can only say that I’m not yet done."

– Chris Cunningham and Johnny Hermanson of Storyhill

Someone told me recently that I seem to be the type of person who doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life. It’s a comment that may have easily offended some, but I wasn’t put off by it.

It’s true, in part, that I don’t really know what I want to do. I know ultimately I would like to be a college professor, but I see myself in that stage about 15 to 20 years from now.

So what do I do in between, other than go to graduate school? That’s the part that remains fuzzy to me. Right now, I’m in the newspaper business. Will I be in the biz 10 years from now? A year? A month? I don’t know.

I’m still very young and don’t really know which direction life will take me. And while that may have freaked me out in college, where everyone had to have a plan, it doesn’t bother me now.

I find it perfectly acceptable that people take chances in life – work at one career, try another, go back to school, take a sabbatical, find a new career, wait and see what life has in store next.

I’m not completely passive on this journey. I do seek out opportunities, but I’m also excited to discover what opportunities find me.

I’ve heard it said the average person will have six careers in his or her life. That may seem like instability to some, but I find it an indication of our world today. There’s a wealth of educational opportunities from technical schools to liberal arts degrees. The low unemployment rate almost guarantees entry into just about every field in the workforce. Indeed, it’s an exciting time when workers can do anything they want and move on if they find something else they want to try.

Life is all about trying new experiences. To me, that includes exploring new careers and new opportunities – whatever that time frame may be. But for the time being, readers are stuck with me.

I’ve come to a couple of conclusions in life. But for now, I’m not yet done.

Shawnda Schelinder is the Austin Daily Herald’s associate editor. She can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail shawnda.schelinder@austindailyherald