Another one of those Ubiquitous Peace Corps Questions:

“What are you going to do when you’re done?”

AGHGHAGHGHGHGHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

This question literally keeps me up until 4 AM, looking into grad school programs, and the requirements I have to fulfill before I can even think about applying (moral of the story: a Bachelor’s of Science > Bachelor’s of Arts. Two years too late. Shit). So you all get to be my career counselors. Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

I was the 4 year old who declare with utmost confidence that she was going to be a Cowgirl-Painter-Ballerina-Paleoanthroplogist. That last one threw people for a loop, but basically, that still holds true.

What do I want to be when I grow up? Well, I’m most what I wanted to be when I grew up, a Peace Corps Volunteer. I decided I wanted to do it, and I did it. But in 20 months….

One thing I do know, and that is: I need a higher cause. Working for the weekend and the BMW and the corner office is not really what this girl’s all about. I need to be able to wake up in the morning and be absolutely CERTAIN that in some small way, I have endeavored to make Camut’s “best of all possible worlds” better. Unfortunately, I haven’ t been able to find a graduate program in becoming Wonder Woman.

For a while, I thought about law school, but I do not, do not, do not really want a desk job. Really.

So knowing those two things, what makes me happy? What, in school and the real world just gets me really, really excited?

Honestly, my favorite class in college was landscape restoration. In a major like mine (Environmental Studies), where day after day is spent being completely immersed in the myriad ways in which we are just Fucking It Up, Landscape Restoration offered a positive way of thinking about our relationship to the planet. It is also not quite unlike art, which also suits me well. It’s hands on. There’s not alot of sitting still. And its a growing field. I could have my own consultancy in 15 years, and doing very, very well.
The downside? For a Master’s in Restoration Ecology, I have to take a few classes, like calculus, statistics, more biology, and ecology. Which I’m ok with. It’s just all rather expensive. (Although it would end up paying itself off.) And I just keep coming back to it as something I would be happy doing.

Programs that rock: UC Davis, UW Madison.

Then there’s Agricultural and Applied Economics, or, pretty much doing what I’m doing now. Working with agricultural groups around the world to develop sustainable livelihoods. I could travel with it! Hellloooo USAID. It would be a very flexible degree.
Classes I would have to take before applying: Calculus, Micro and Macro Econ.

Program that really, really rocks: UW Madison.

Education. Really though, and I’m the last person to ever expect themselves to be interested in it. But if Jamaica has taught me anything (hah- taught!) its that the kids of the world need someone who gives a shit. And that literacy is absolutely necessary in this increasingly connected world. Also, I could go anywhere in the world with it.

Program that really, really rocks: Columbia Teacher’s College’s Urban Education Program.

International Development- non-profit management track. Again, going anywhere in the world, helping make a difference.

Programs that rock: Yale (HAHAHA) and the Joseph Korbel School at U Denver.

And obviously, I still have 20 months to go. Lying awake till 4am is not exactly productive or healthy,and there aren’t really any wrong choices. It’s just picking something. And again, any thoughts from you guys would be really appreciated.