Walk with Me
At 45 years old, I am still not real sure what I want to be when I grow up. More accurately, I want to be a lot of things. I am fortunate that I have had the opportunity to experience numerous roles. I started as a truck stop waitress when I was 14. Throughout high school, I worked retail. I spent 12 years active duty in the United States Navy. In that time, I worked as an admin clerk, an electronics technician, and an instructor (big swing, I know). I gained experience as a team player and a leader. Upon returning to civilian life, I entered into sales working in various fields. I am now a business owner, running a successful ad agency and call center.
While working in different career fields, I gained experience in other areas. I am a writer. I have served on nonprofit boards. I have mentored others building businesses of their own. And there is still so much more I want to do.
As I mentioned in my introduction, this college journey is another branch. When I began, I knew I wanted to accomplish the completion; the PhD was not a means to an end – it was the end. Completing the path was the goal itself. There was no career field that I had a desire to enter that required the study. I just wanted to experience the grind and earn the hoodie.
But a funny thing happened the end of my sophomore year. The goal, as goals are apt to do, became a bit more enlightened. I took a creative writing class for two reasons: First, it fit my minor. Second, I have a horrid time writing fiction and I really want to. I also took an Introduction to Literary Theory class as a part of my major. This marked the first time I was invited to engage with words in ways that I had never considered – no regard for the author, complete dependence on social constructs, in direct opposition to established ideas, and other contradictory ways. These two classes in concert inspired a whole new idea. I could be an academic. I could fuse together my desire to write with my lust for learning and merge those two things in a way I have never considered (or equipped) to do before.
The path is still the same, but the goal has shifted.
I received an invitation to join the Honors College. After discussing it with a few faculty members and my family, I accepted. There were a few factors that led to this decision. Practically, it will help fill out some of my nontraditional experiences when I apply for a master’s program. Most importantly, I do not think the experience of participating in the Honors Thesis Project can be overstated.
I am not concerned about my employability. When considering the skill set sought by employers and the experience targeted in the workplace study, my professional history and accomplishments are solid. However, when considering my future in academia, I am not yet qualified. I am under read in theory, I am inexperienced in research, I am unpracticed in rhetoric. I have not earned my academic chops. These are the areas I am looking to dig deep into during my junior and senior year.
I begin my participation in upper class scheduling and the Honors College in the fall. It is my intention to try the hard things, to excel in the study, and squeeze every bit of practice, knowledge, and experience out of the next 60 hours. When folks ask me how to succeed, what are pointers for accomplishment, I always tell them the same thing. I am going to take my own advice.
You cannot manufacture reps. You can have all the knowledge, all the theory, all the directions, but if you aren’t doing the work every day you will not be great. Michael Jordan isn’t the GOAT because he was born that way. Tiger Woods isn’t an exceptional golfer because he studied the game. Simone Biles isn’t a mind-blowing gymnast because she watched the film. They put in the reps, every day. 1000 shots, 1000 swings, 1000 flips, over and over again.
So, I will put in the time and keep reaching for the next thing – completion of the Honors Thesis, acceptance into a master’s Program, figuring out how to fit a PhD study into my life. And, if I am really lucky, I will publish some really neat ideas along the way.