All good things...

Where do we go from here? An oft-asked question, I suppose, in any context. However, we're all English majors over here. Our futures seem as uncertain as anyone else's. Some will teach. Some will write. Others will join the nine-to-five bump-and-grind. Myself? Who knows? I sure don't. Yet, wherever I end up, I would like to think I'll have made it that much further with what I have learned in ENGL 2145.

Of course, there has been much horizon-broadening literture to read--Elizabeth Bishop's "Geography III" comes to mind, as does David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" and Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis." There were some assignments that proved challenging: I cannot help but reminesce on all the hours of sleep I sacrificed working on that close reading assignment. In all, I think I learned a few things while enrolled in 2145, and I feel the path is somewhat clearer now.

With a little luck, I should be graduating from KSU within the year, possibly as early as December. I cannot say that I know for sure what I will do, career-wise. I would like to think the Great American Novel is buried in my mind somewhere, just needing a few years before I'm ready to write it. I would also entertain the notion that I may find a more journalistic endeavor...not an easy route with newspapers folding on an almost-daily basis. I have also thought of maybe coming back to school in a few short years and obtaining a Master's Degree (it helps to have one of those, right? Right?) and maybe teach in a college environment as well...though I am still at the point where the prospect of being in a classroom where twenty or more strangers (who speak fluent Text-Message and watch MTV) are depending on me for an education is...well, we'll cross that bridge when we get nearer to it.

Okay, time to catch my breath. Too much thinking about work hurts the brain! On the leisure side of things, I see myself becoming a more analytical reader. Rather, I see myself reading more in general...in the near future, I can use those now-free essay-writing hours and instead knock out a book or two. Everybody wins.

In all honesty, I cannot tell you where English studies will one day take me. I know: I'm 28 years old and I'm not going to live forever. Decision-making time is nigh. However, I foresee great, plentiful things on the horizon. Even if I never finish my novel (or my play, or my screenplay, or my poetry anthology,) there are still myriad careers and paths to take down the line. One glimmer of light: I have completed ENGL 2145. That makes me one giant leap closer to...wherever I'm going.