Moving is somewhat of a curse word in some homes. In mine it’s a way of life. My parents grew up moving, their parents grew up moving, and I was raised the same way. To never feel connected to places, but rather to people.
Texas, California, Singapore, Australia, Boston, Washington, the story of my life. There are people all over the world who have moved far more than I have. I know, some of them are my best friends. It seems that something dies inside when you have to leave people that many times; when you are forced to become a part of a community where no one knows who you are. I've seen it happen, from distance, of course. I have told friends many times that life is all about perspective. Do you see an opportunity or a horrible situation? I saw an opportunity.
My life has been one of fresh starts, world travel, and the constant promise of uncertainty. Knowing that I would live in one place for four years initially made me feel trapped. In my community high school students tended to have a lot of connections based on the fact that they lived there their entire lives. I, on the other hand, didn’t know anyone; I knew I would never have a history in a community. My pre-school teacher would never become my employer; my teachers would never have known…anyone in my family. I had two options: one, give up; two, learn to self-advocate at the age of 14. I became immersed in the community, making connections whenever possible. I volunteered my baby-sitting services to the moms of the other boys on my little brother’s baseball team. I donated cakes to local auctions. I volunteered for anything that caught my interest. It didn’t take long at all before I no longer had to seek opportunities. Soon I was being requested to volunteer at functions to raise money for a local restaurant that caters to the homeless community; I was invited to attend a mission trip to Tijuana; I was asked to be the photo editor of the yearbook by a teacher who is notorious for not even knowing her students names.
I realized then that simply living in one place doesn’t really entitle a person to anything, and neither does knowing a lot of people. Only after earning respect does one gain success.
I have a clear bias that moving is a way of life that forces a person to be a self-advocate. It forces families to stick together, in the periods of time when you are all each other have. As well as causing you to realize that the connections you make with others are really all that you leave behind.
What I wonder is what it is like to live in one place your whole life? Does it create a feeling of freedom in knowing what to expect from your life? Or might a person feel trapped by the expectations of the community that raised them?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Does Practicality Trump Fantasy?
I was never the kind of girl to pick favorites. I loved all colors, flavors of ice cream, music, cars, flowers. I never knew what college I wanted to go to, I never got that feeling that I was where is was meant to be. There is one absolute in my life that has never waivered. I am absolutely obsessed with cooking.
To me sitting down to a good book, is flipping through my favorite recipes in a cookbook. I far prefer cooking a meal for my best friends than being cooked for. When I see a dining room table I plan menus for it. When I taste something cooked by someone else I imagine all that went into it. I think about it constantly getting excited over even the sound that a carrot makes when it snaps.
Which is why I am at SMU getting my business degree.
So why am I not at cordon bleu donning a chefs coat and perfecting my julienne? My original idea was to do exactly that. To make sure that I was absolutely positive I sought out an internship at a local cupcake bakery. After my first week the night bakers quit, and the head baker was left to not only bake everything, but also manage the shop during the day. When I came into work the next day I saw the dark bags under her eyes, and the list she left me of what to do that day. At the age of fifteen with no experience she left me to run the bakery for the day by myself. It was then that I fell in love with the idea of having my own place and completely rejected the thought of ever cooking in someone else’s kitchen.
I continued to work in bakeries throughout high school always taking notes of what I wanted for my own shop. While I sit in economics class, and calculus doodling pictures of cakes in my notebooks, I often wonder if I am in the right place. I wonder if I am setting myself up for a life in the corporate world and ignoring my dreams altogether in the name of practicality.
I know that in reality you can’t start a business out of thin air, and that having a back-up plan is highly important in the restaurant industry where 90% fail in the first year. But how much can a person focus on practicality without losing sight of their dreams?
I pose this question to the dreamers out there who opted for practicality. Am I doing the right thing? Should I return to economics tomorrow with the insurance that my degree will pay off? Or should I take a risk and go for it?
To me sitting down to a good book, is flipping through my favorite recipes in a cookbook. I far prefer cooking a meal for my best friends than being cooked for. When I see a dining room table I plan menus for it. When I taste something cooked by someone else I imagine all that went into it. I think about it constantly getting excited over even the sound that a carrot makes when it snaps.
Which is why I am at SMU getting my business degree.
So why am I not at cordon bleu donning a chefs coat and perfecting my julienne? My original idea was to do exactly that. To make sure that I was absolutely positive I sought out an internship at a local cupcake bakery. After my first week the night bakers quit, and the head baker was left to not only bake everything, but also manage the shop during the day. When I came into work the next day I saw the dark bags under her eyes, and the list she left me of what to do that day. At the age of fifteen with no experience she left me to run the bakery for the day by myself. It was then that I fell in love with the idea of having my own place and completely rejected the thought of ever cooking in someone else’s kitchen.
I continued to work in bakeries throughout high school always taking notes of what I wanted for my own shop. While I sit in economics class, and calculus doodling pictures of cakes in my notebooks, I often wonder if I am in the right place. I wonder if I am setting myself up for a life in the corporate world and ignoring my dreams altogether in the name of practicality.
I know that in reality you can’t start a business out of thin air, and that having a back-up plan is highly important in the restaurant industry where 90% fail in the first year. But how much can a person focus on practicality without losing sight of their dreams?
I pose this question to the dreamers out there who opted for practicality. Am I doing the right thing? Should I return to economics tomorrow with the insurance that my degree will pay off? Or should I take a risk and go for it?
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
First Day of Class
Upon hearing about this blog project I had my reservations. After reading the two articles assigned during class I am interested to reap the benefits. I like to read classmates writing and have them read mine, as it is so easy to get stuck in a boring style of wirting. I think that blogging will help me keep ideas fresh.
When Mrs. Channel told us that we would be reading the blog about an American soldier that died I immeadiately froze. My big brother will be deployed within the next year. I don't really know what will be worse, the anticipation of him going, or knowing that he is there and in constant danger. Hearing about a fallen soldier is the last thing I want to read about. I have always been stubborn on this subject realising that I need to expose myslef to this information just lie anyone else. After the first couple paragraphs I found myself smiling as I was reading a testament to life and communication. The blog helped Andrew to feel that he was heard and not simply forgotten. The blog helped me remember that dying for something you beleive in is one of the most noble things a person can do. While the blog in no way changed my fear for my brother, it made me feel at the very least happy to be living this day.
The article about the proffessor at Sydney University that used blogging made me recall essays that I had written in the past. Often the sign of a good english student is not one who can express their ideas well, but rather one who can present the teachers ideas in the way that they prefer. I am excited for this class as I feel that this is precisely not the case, and this excercise is meant to deter the regurgitation of the teachers ideas.
When Mrs. Channel told us that we would be reading the blog about an American soldier that died I immeadiately froze. My big brother will be deployed within the next year. I don't really know what will be worse, the anticipation of him going, or knowing that he is there and in constant danger. Hearing about a fallen soldier is the last thing I want to read about. I have always been stubborn on this subject realising that I need to expose myslef to this information just lie anyone else. After the first couple paragraphs I found myself smiling as I was reading a testament to life and communication. The blog helped Andrew to feel that he was heard and not simply forgotten. The blog helped me remember that dying for something you beleive in is one of the most noble things a person can do. While the blog in no way changed my fear for my brother, it made me feel at the very least happy to be living this day.
The article about the proffessor at Sydney University that used blogging made me recall essays that I had written in the past. Often the sign of a good english student is not one who can express their ideas well, but rather one who can present the teachers ideas in the way that they prefer. I am excited for this class as I feel that this is precisely not the case, and this excercise is meant to deter the regurgitation of the teachers ideas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)