Where do I go from here?
Every time I come back from career fair, I have doubts about my career path in environmental engineering. It seems that every company I talk to is in construction or development, and they’re intent on hiring the most boring people possible. When I mentioned that I was planning on adding a minor in journalism, the reactions ranged from to mild surprise to momentary shock and confusion.
I don’t even know if I want to end up in a “good” job working 40+ hours a week in an office managing projects. Most days I feel like I would be much happier as an outdoor guide or instructor, or an artist, or producing outdoor video and photo projects.
I find myself inspired by environmental heroes like Edward Abbey and Aldo Leopold, films produced by Patagonia, Camp4Collective, and many more. More than just abut anything, I would love to throw myself into that world and do my damnedest to keep adventure and environmentalism alive.
Perhaps fortunately, that assuredness is undermined by a healthy doubt. I don’t know if my skills in anything in particular are good enough to get me where I want to be. It will definitely be easier to forge my own path once I already have some “career capital” built up—I could be in demand, not just trying to find a way to make a living. Wouldn’t that be nice.
It helps me to write things out like this. Problems that seem overwhelming get shrunk down to a manageable size in writing.
First things first, I need to knock out this semester and find a summer job.
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