We Want YOU
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I spent an entire summer, many moons ago, wrestling with that ever-popular question, “What Should I Do With My Life?” Since I’m no good at wrestling, a long vacation from my job seemed just the ticket to do some serious soul searching.
On the advice of a former church friend, I (gulp!) volunteered to be a counselor at a children’s camp (hey, I was MUCH younger then… and thus still insane) located in Huntsville State Park, in the heart of the beautiful Sam Houston National Forest in East Texas.
This camp’s format was 7 week-long sessions, which meant I had a different group of 12 to 15 boys each week, aged 8 to 12. From day one, I was amazed to find the entire experience was an incredible adventure! (And let’s just say that if you ever had the desire to kick-start your life’s allotment of grey hairs early, this is the best way I know. Trust me on this.)
One day I was walking alone back to my cabin and, as was my custom whenever I encountered a piece of trash along the trail, I picked it up. No biggie; I did it all the time. I liked to think I can always leave a place better than I found it. Besides, I hoped that my actions would at least serve as an example to the kids.
A few days later, one of the camp Board members called me over. After the usual introductions and preliminaries, he said, “Over the last few weeks we’ve been noticing how you seem to really care about this camp. You’re good with the kids, you tell good stories, and you seem to be a real leader. We’ve even seen you doing little extra things like picking up bits of trash along the trails.”
Needless to say, I was intrigued and quite flattered. I mean, not only had I never done this sort of thing before, but I had no idea whether was even any good at it. Now this guy comes along and says he’s been watching me… (lucky for him I’m not a paranoid!)
But here’s where it really got weird.
“We don’t know if you’ve been aware of it,” he continued, “but we’ve been looking for someone to fill the position of camp caretaker. But we’re not just looking for a handyman. It needs to be someone who cares deeply about what we do here, and has the qualities we’ve seen in you. We were wondering if you’d be interested in the job.”
Now instead of telling you what I did (that would be just too easy!), I’m going to turn it around and then ask you a question. (Consider it carefully; there may be a test later.)
Suppose you discovered, quite by accident, that you were really good at some… thing you’ve never done before. Suddenly, out of the blue, an opportunity to do it for real dropped out of the sky and landed right in your lap.
What would you do?
Note: I’m not asking what the thing would be, I’m asking what your response would be. Oh, and about that test… it’s called “Life”.
You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!
11 responses so far
Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax...
Ask myself three questions:
Question 1: Am I remotely interested in the idea of being a ?
Question 2: Am I reviled in any way at the idea of being a ?
Question 3: Are Klondike bars part of the benefits package?
What? My fake [whatchamacallit] tags disappear!
Who sold you this then?
Sorry. DisappearED. Boiling pasta now…
Uh oh. Like a character in The Incredibles, I just caught myself monologuing. Dang!
That’s exactly how I got into programming.
Mike, you are one weird cookie. My kind of people!
Hello Chip! Amazing that you could do that (I still consider most programmers to be magicians). It’s also how I got into engineering.
Hey Chip, me too! I originally planned to go into Mechanical Engineering, but took programming as an elective and aced it with no effort (hint to self).
Robert, please refer to me as an eccentic biscotti and I’m okay!
I would consider it seriously. This is how I landed a part time position I currently have, so it is not just a theoretical question to me. One should always be open to opportunities. That’s why we blog I guess - it is an opportunity.
Mike, you’re life apparently went the opposite of mine… I took a programming course and couldn’t get up any enthusiasm for it. And yet in the vastness of the universe, our paths crossed anyway! Not bad for an eccentric biscotti, I’d say!
Trevor, you definitely have the nub of the gist, I’d say. Opportunity is there if we just open our eyes.
I’m actually hoping this happens to me… I feel like my college is teaching me to be a psychology researcher and not a psychologist. Nothing against research, except to be a “real” researcher I’d have to get a PhD and teach college students. *shudder*
Sam, there are ways and there are ways… to make you talk! - er, no, to make opportunity “come to you”, so to speak.
How about this? Think of it as if you were blogging: 1) Look for ways to do something you want to do anyway. 2) You gain valuable experience no matter what. 3) Then, one day, you can point to that and say, “Hey, I can do that, too, see?”
I *shudder* with you on teaching at University-level, though. I’d love to do it, myself, if it weren’t for the internal politics that run rampant among today’s faculties. Couldn’t take it.