Three Year Plans

While I was in highschool, my long term plans looked something like this:

1. Graduate highschool
2. Graduate college
3. The rest of my life

That’s a 6-8 year plan, but after #2 is finished, it gets a bit tricky. “The rest of my life” is not really a manageable goal, nor does it offer any insight to what I can expect my life to look like for a while.

My plan ran out last May and I’ve been drifting in #3. In October, I had a 2 month plan (get to December) and in January I had a 5 month plan (one semester of part time student teaching, then re-evaluate current life goal). These plans were not terribly effective. They hung over my head with the constant option to quit and they didn’t help with any visions of the future.

Right now, I’ve made a three year plan and, while I really don’t like my three year plan and might in fact hate my three year plan, I do think it’s a good thing to have a long term goal to work towards. I think it’s better to feel committed to what you’re doing than always thinking about that option to get out. After the third year, I’ll have that problem with “The rest of my life” again, but that’s something I don’t think I’ll be able to avoid. Hopefully by that time, I’ll have made other plans.

I’ve got some dreams to make true

In graduating and moving to a new city and new school and meeting new people, I’m asked the same question over and over:

So, what do you want to do with your life?

I usually explain to them about what I’m studying, how I’d like to become a teacher and work with deaf kids in a mainstreamed setting and this is always met with interest.  But I have another dream too.

I dream that I have a healthy family, a loving husband and a safe home.  I dream that I am financially secure and can support my family.  That I raise my children to be happy and strong and that I die before I realize death is coming.

Of course, that’s really not what people are asking about, so I keep it to myself.  But that’s what I want to do with my life.