The following post was sparked by reading about the BME internship contest (you can vote for the finalists here), which was linked to in Gala Darling’s latest Carousel. Actually, a combination of reading about the internship contest and a comment that was left on the post, from Sunny:
Oh man, I wish I knew about that BME contest when it started, that’s seriously been my dream job for years, I gave it up when I went into college though because everyone kept telling me you can’t go to school for anthropology and take it into body mods around the world!
1st thought: How sad that someone would be so discouraging to her, because that sounds like a very plausible idea to me!
2nd thought: What a cool job that would be!
See, I’ve always thought that if I ever went back to college, it would most likely be for a degree in a “useless” area (read: area that would probably result in a career in academia). Something like anthropology, dead languages, or religious studies – along those lines. This isn’t a new thing. I distinctly remember my mom finding one of Jaye’s opening lines in Wonderfalls particularly humorous:
Gretchen: Did you end up over-educated and unemployable like you said in the yearbook?
Jaye: Yep. Went to Brown, got a philosophy degree, now I work here.
(She works in a Niagra Falls souvenir shop.)
There are lots of reasons I’ll probably never go back – the cost, mainly, the fact that I’m so curious I’d love to study all of those things (and more – which isn’t really feasible), and that with the educational system the way it is, let’s face it, a lot of people end up teaching who have absolutely no business doing so, even in colleges/universities. But the main reason I haven’t seriously considered it is because, let’s face it: I’d never make it. I would have to be constantly monitoring my appearance and speech to be taken seriously within academia. And we all know I have serious issues with people restricting what I do with my body.
Which is why a career in anthropology studying body modification in various cultures sounds so appealing – I’d get to do all kinds of reading and talking about something I find interesting, plus (and I might be wrong), I’d think that would be one academic specialty where it would be perfectly okay to show up looking like a tattooed, fairy-haired weirdo.
It’s all kind of a moot point anyways, because even if I did go back to college/university, I don’t know if I could pick one thing to study! I’ve always been interested in so many things and reading a list of the things I wanted to be “when I grow up” shows as much – writer/artist, marine biologist, something with linguistics, Egyptologist, business owner, indie fashion designer.
And while I’m getting better at handling so many passions & understanding that I don’t necessarily have to pick just one thing to do for the rest of my life (cue ominous music), I still get frustrated sometimes. Like reading entrepreneur or lifestyle design books and they harp on about how the path to happiness is finding your One True Passion and figuring out how to make money from it. Uh-huh. How in the world do I pick just one passion?! If I could make a living by being professionally curious, I’d be totally set.
I always thought that this was a Michelle-thing, and that other people didn’t have this issue. What a relief to realize that no, not everyone is like that. I’m getting much better at juggling my passions myself – I have this site and the Valkyries project as creative outlets, Matt & I are working on a project together where I’ll get to flex my business-y muscles, Style Therapy is a bit of both creativity & business, and of course there’s always reading on the side. Among the titles currently on my Amazon wishlist: DIY U: Edupunk, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education (I can’t wait for this to be released!), How to Make Webcomics, and Teach Yourself Icelandic.
Anyways, apparently The Renaissance Soul and Refuse to Choose are great books on the matter. I’ve got The Renaissance Soul on hold at the local library, but it is taking forever! for it to get to me. I ordered it out of impatience, now I’m waiting on it to arrive – & I’ve never seen a bad thing from Barbara Sher so I might go ahead and order Refuse to Choose too. Stay tuned for reviews!
And as always, I’d love to hear what you think – are you a one true passion person or a too many passions to count person?
