Whither one's career...?



I have always seemed to have way too many, and very diverse, interests for my own good. (Or just lack of focus, some would say). At any rate, I have always had difficulty staying focused on one goal and following one path to that goal. I admire those strange folks who knew, even in grade school "what they wanted to do when they grew up." I still don't know! Because so many college students, even seniors, come to their faculty advisors with the "I don't know what I want to do, and/or what I want to major in" question, one colleague had a quote framed in his office from Peter Drucker, a well-known Management authority as follows: "I'm fifty-seven, and I still don't know what I want to do!" I doubt it helped anyone, but I liked it because it was my lament as well.





When I was in high school, I sometimes thought I wanted to be a pilot, and considered the military academies as a possible route to a college degree. I also thought about engineering primarily because I heard that paid well and felt I could be successful in that field of study. When a football scholarship came along, I gave more thought to a career as a high school coach. I loved football, and felt I would be successful as a coach. However, the football career did not pan out, and it is difficult to be successful as a coach if you did not play the sport in college.







I volunteered for the draft and entered the Army to get the GI Bill's financial support for college. I still didn't know what i wanted to major in, but I knew I wanted a college degree to make a decent living. The thought that I should find the one job I would love to do simply did not enter the equation in my thinking about a career. I did not know anyone who truly loved their job. I thought you should work your job in order to enjoy life outside work. The more money you made, the more options you had to enjoy life outside work. Simple, I know, but there you are.





I selected engineering as my college major because it paid well, and selected Industrial Engineering because it was more general--and friends Herschel and Max were already majoring in it and recommended it. I took a minor in Metallurgical engineering so that I could get a scholarship they had available, and found I really liked that field. I had accepted an offer for a job in Birmingham in that field when a downturn in the economy caused the company to rescind the offer. I then went to Huntsville, took a job in project coordination with Brown Engineering, and went to work the same day, in the same office, as their new secretary hire, a gorgeous young woman named Marion "PeeWee" Harrison! I have never viewed that as simply good luck. It was definitely Providential. Making a career choice may have been random at times, but a mate choice was made for me.




I never really wanted to work as an Industrial Engineer, and never have. I used the I.E. degree to get a job in project management and that is really the field I worked in primarily. At Brown, I moved from a project coordination role to a project management role and then to head of an engineering department of over one hundred employees. I am sure I would have done well with advancement at Brown, but I already had an itch for something different. (There has been an almost permanent itch, actually!)



I also wanted to teach, and felt that college was the level I would like best, so I began working in that direction when Max and I went to Georgia Tech for a masters degree. I knew that I would need a doctorate to teach at the college level, and was delighted, after joining NASA/MSFC, to learn that they had supported several people in their doctoral studies. Max led the way in both these endeavors, but they were falling into place nicely with my vague long-term plans. I am grateful I was able to prepare for a teaching career while still supporting my growing family.



Even though I took the college teaching route and loved it, I still had a moment of pause sometime later. Shortly after my leaving Huntsville, my friend Herschel started up a new company, Dynetics, Inc. I am sure that, had I been in Huntsville at the time, I would probably have joined him in that endeavor. That would have probably been financially very rewarding (he is a multi-millionaire), but I don't think I would have liked that career path in any other way, so there is no real regret.



I had several opportunities to move into academic administration at various times in my academic career. I served as department head on two different occasions, and as dean for one year, but found all those experiences unfulfilling for various reasons. I sometimes think I should have followed that path more consistently, as there are higher-level jobs that might have been much more satisfying (VP and Prez). However, there is an obligatory apprenticeship, or progression, that I simply did not want to pursue.




I also found a teaching career allowed me the freedom of schedule that most jobs would not. I could remain involved with my family, especially my children, much more than I might have with other more time-demanding jobs. That was important to me. College teaching also allowed the opportunity to teach in Europe for a year, which may have been my most enjoyable teaching year! I also taught a couple of summers later in Europe. All in all I have no regrets about my career choices, and have been quite satisfied.



Now I am finally in full retirement, and must confess I sometimes have an itch! If there were good overseas teaching opportunities still, I might be tempted to go again--especially for a semester. I have even toyed with the idea of a visiting professorship in some other part of the country--Vermont for the fall season, for example. Then rush home before we were snow-bound for the winter! Or somewhere out west--I know, the romanticized West--not the real one. I would probably find my illusions shattered in the real one.



Of course, having grandchildren changes everything. I don't know if I could really go anywhere that might mean we would not see them for any extended period. They change so quickly! And with each new change or stage, they are so delightful in their responses and behavior and then ours, as well as their parents and uncles, reactions are also fun. So, most likely, I have finished my working career life and my new career is grandparenting. Maybe the best one yet!