Every year I like to look back on what I’ve done and see if I can’t find some meaning in it.
This year, I’m using the perspective of the current me telling myself from a year ago what I would want to know. So 2010 Adam tells 2009 Adam what he would want to know about this year…
Dear 2009 self,
In 2010, you’re going to luck into a new job based on the endorsement of a professor. Unsure of how you’re going to handle dual employment, you realize it’s not so bad and you’ll appreciate the opportunities presented to you. You like social media, right? Well, you’ll actually get paid for using it.
But don’t get too excited about leaving the store. I know you want to leave and go on to more jobs related to what you want to do, but it’s not going to be feasible. Not in the summer, not in the fall, and definitely not when you think you’ve got a plan to leave by Christmas. Kiss those times as a night manager goodbye, too, because you get relegated to stock boy hell. It’s not all bad, though. You’ll wind up earning a change of pace by wrapping meat every now and again instead of stocking shelves and carrying out groceries.
In 2010, you’re going to realize pretty quickly that you hate making video games. You gain an appreciation of the process, but decide – as if you haven’t already – that games are not your thing. You’re going to pull your first “all-nighter” in the GCC, but you’ll end up taking a nap on the lab floor so you can ensure a safe drive home, so you can’t technically claim an all-nighter.
During a period where you hate all things interactive, you’ll wish you would’ve majored in journalism in the first place. But you’ll make the right call by double-majoring in the fall, even if it means an extra semester. And you’ll decide that grad school is probably looking like the best option for you.
You won’t be quite sure what you want to do after you get your master’s, but you’re pretty sure of what you don’t want to do.
Your focus, however, has never been better. The percentages for your grades in fall 2010 will be perhaps some of your best yet.
Oh and, by the way, you’ll plan your fall semester thinking it will be significantly less time-consuming than the spring. But you are wrong. So wrong.
In 2010, you’re going to IRELAND! But you already knew that. Resist the feeling of being homesick and enjoy it while you can. Blink and you’ll miss those two weeks.
Just imagine sitting on the runway at O’Hare, anxious for take-off, when Doc Brown appears at your side and he tells you, “We’re gonna see some serious shit.”
In 2010, a girl finds you – in Ireland, of all places. Except she’s not actually Irish. Listen to your instinct.
In 2010, you’ll finally do what you’ve been thinking about for a long time and you’ll supplement your karate training with another martial art. You aren’t quite sure which direction to go at first, but you make the right decision in going to tai chi classes on Tuesday night with a wonderful group of people. This gives you a fresh outlook on the martial arts as a whole, and gives you something to add to your karate knowledge. Extending your experience this way is probably one of your brighter moves this year.
In 2010, you get to resurrect Driven By Pride! Instead of driving around couples like you wanted to for Homecoming and Prom in high school, you get to drive your friends who lost their licenses. Hey, you take the good with the bad.
Overall, 2010 will be a good year for you. You’ve picked up a new martial art and you’ve formed an idea of where you want to head professionally. You won’t answer all the questions, but you’ll get closer.
-Adam, 2010
