Bloganuary writing prompt
What’s your dream job?
During my senior year of high school, I had to take a career aptitude test. It offered a series of questions to help me discover careers that meshed with my personality, strengths, and personal interests. Usually, most students had two or three top career choices, but not me. I had five. My friends laughed at my varying suggestions for my future career, and even my school counselor chuckled at my results, for they were all over the place.
My top five career suggestions included:
- Teaching
- Forestry
- Administration Assistant (back then, it was called secretarial)
- Photography
- Writing
And the funny thing is that I have worked/dabbled at all five recommendations. At thirty-three, I decided to go to school to get my teaching degree. Over thirty years later, I have my BA in English and my masters in cultural and linguistic diversity. And I have been teaching for over twenty-five years.
When I first moved to Colorado, I worked a temporary job in a hardware store and later found another temporary job as a switchboard operator for private companies. Still, my first real job in Colorado was when I began working for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I loved working outdoors. My crew cut trees, built fences and rafting sites, and planted trees. We looked for wildlife and cleaned recreational areas. And when the administration got behind on their work, they pulled me in to work as a secretary.
For a time, I dabbled in photography. I took black-and-white photography classes and learned how to develop my own work. I took photos for friends, senior pictures, and nature shots when I had the chance. One year, a photo took first place for a nature shot for BLM. But I drew the line at wedding pics. After four weddings, I discovered that the sweetest women become scary mothers of the bride, and the blushing bride often turns into a bridezilla. Nowadays, my old Canon Rebel and my Sony Digital collect dust. I really need to pull out the Sony and start shooting again. I have only taken pictures on my iPhone in the year and a half since I finally started using my this device. Hmm, I see new adventures on the horizon.
In college, I started writing for the school magazine and paper. I won writing contests, published poetry, and received a writing scholarship. In my senior year of college, I was asked to attend a poetry seminar to share my work. I was one of seven invited, and I was the only one in the room who did not have a master’s degree or was not currently working towards their master’s. During that time, a professor asked me to participate in a symposium because of an essay I had written about women and children after divorce. It was published, and I am proud to admit that I was included with Ivy League professors, not too shabby for a late bloomer who always worried if her writing would ever be “good enough.”
Now, I have a blog that all began with family stories and genealogy. Over the years, my blog has grown as I have included short stories, poetry, flash fiction, and even writing challenges. And just today, I was shocked to discover that my subscribers have grown. I now have over 1,000 subscribers. Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that my family blog would grow like this. Funny how life has twists and turns and offers blessings and joy at every stage of our lives. And I must admit that I am forever amazed at the promise, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4).”
So I wonder; what is in store for my future adventures? For this Grammie, it’s incredible to realize that new journeys await just around the bend.
Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash
Tales of a Family 