I intended to write and post an article with this title over a week ago. The week of Martin Luther King Day was a complete mess. We had snow, quite a bit of snow actually. Classes were cancelled all week and campus itself was closed until Sunday the 22nd. It completely derailed everything really. We (meaning my friends and I) didn’t realize that we had a week off until the Wednesday of, the 18th. They proceeded to do what they usually do on the weekends, as did I. Campus lost power the night of the 18th, which was interesting. My roommates, some of their friends and I sat around in the living room with the only source of light being my LED flashlight pointed up at the ceiling and we listened to music on various laptops till the batteries gave out on us.
In total I would guess that Evergreen had about a foot and change of snow on the ground. The snow now has since all melted, save the places where the RAD Services had pushed it clear of walkways. The snow by day two or three had formed a lovely crust of ice on top, roughly a half inch deep, which proved to be incredibly difficult to trudge through. I made the mistake of trying to walk across the field here on campus that is roughly between the main campus and most of housing, it usually takes a minute or two to get across. With the ice, it took a good three or four unless I stuck to the paths already stomped out by everyone else.
All my plans for that week were completely undone by the snow. I was supposed to be in class most nights, instead I spent them milling about my apartment with my roommates. I intended to go the movies on Friday and see something, probably The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo again because I really liked that movie. I managed to get myself out to the mall and found that it was closed. Most of the grocery stores were closed but Safeway wasn’t and I was able to buy some food finally after going most of the week with rather bare rations. In all that trip felt like a mistake, I left at 1 and I didn’t get home till almost 8. And I barely accomplished one of my goals, to get some food. I had scheduled a meeting with a counselor at the Career Development Center on campus, the snow forced me to reschedule, then the snow forced me to reschedule again. I have since managed to see him and get things somewhat sorted out for graduation.
So now things have returned to some normalcy. The campus is littered with broken tree limbs and my classes are trying to figure out how to make up two days of missed classes. And I have a slightly better idea of what I am going to do after I graduate. I have been thinking about the Peace Corps. I had not considered it really too much before I started seeing the Career Development Center. But I think it is a good idea, or at least the best I have. My mom has told me that she doesn’t want me to just start taking jobs and I am inclined to agree. I remember my dad telling me a story about how he was working for a temp agency in college and being sent to some loading dock or something. He saw the men around him, who were in the late 30s and 40s and realizing that they had being do this work for years and they ran like clockwork. They allowed a job to become a career. I think I understand what he meant by that and what my mom meant. It is fairly easy to find a job if you are not particularly picky. I could probably find a job doing something. It would pay enough and I wouldn’t starve, but it would be something I am completely uninterested it and I would grow to hate it. Find a job that you want to go to in the morning. That is what my mom in effect said to me. I think my biggest problem for me at this time is that I don’t know what I want to do. I haven’t had any jobs really, I’ve done some manual labor infrequently, but anyone with sufficient muscle mass and basic language comprehension can do that. I was a volunteer for the Warm Springs Tribal Public Defenders’ Office in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation for a month last summer. I learned from that I do not think I want to be a lawyer. And because of that, I don’t want to waste time and money, mine and my family’s, on law school when I am not certain I want to do that. I think it would be rather rude to say the least to go through law school, spend all that money and incur those debts and then declare that I don’t want to work in the legal system. I have been a student for all my life. I have no real experience in anything beyond the theoretical, in a classroom. Which is all well and good, but I don’t know what I am really good at or what I really enjoy. I have learned that I am fairly adept writer, when I put my mind to it I am a decent public speaker and I would in all likelihood enjoy working in management.
I have been considering the Peace Corps because it is something I think I can do and I would be able to do some good at the same time. It would hopefully allow me to practice my Spanish, a skill I’d like to improve. And if I am sent off to a Spanish speaking country, my fluency would in all likelihood go up to near native, or at least one would hope. And it would look good on my résumé, never a bad thing. From what I have heard, the Peace Corps likes Evergreen students, again not a bad sign. I doubt my mom would be too thrilled that I would be off in some foreign land in not entirely perfect conditions, but I believe she would know that it is good for me in the long run. Unless I get malaria, which I heard is lovely. But joking aside I think this is an idea worth pursuing. I think I’d like to work internationally, I speak English and Spanish, If I spoke Mandarin, Arabic and/or Hindi, I’d be able to go most anywhere be fine in theory. I’ve studied history and economics, both of which are closed tied with international affairs. In fact contrary to some beliefs, it is impossible for a nation to thrive economically isolated (e.g. North Korea). Trade keeps us fat, happy and alive generally. So, I’m thinking this Peace Corps thing is a good start.