my name is nuwanda

Given the economic status of today, figuring out how to find a fulfilling and profitable career is showing to be quite the dilemma for a lot of my educated friends. Many of them resort to a job outside their degree in order to pay bills. They're unhappy. Their intellectual potential is left untapped. I happen to be one of these individuals. Teaching wasn't possible in Michigan. An English major can be useful if you know the right people, but also vague if you don't. Scholastic achievement doesn't factor in as much as it used to when you're dealing with competition that has connections. This is old news.

One of my favorite movies is Dead Poet's Society.



Before I actually saw it, I never gave the title much thought. I don't know why. The title should have naturally appealed to me. When I finally viewed it, I fell in love. It invokes every reason I became an English major. Although it's obviously a movie, and therefore fictional, the passion that is displayed by so many characters is exactly what I have experienced so many times. It can be real.

I have had the privilege of being academically capable of excelling in every area of curriculum throughout my education. Perhaps I'm spoiled. I could have been a physical therapist (although not a doctor, I don't think I was ever equipped with the necessary patience or tenacity) like I started out to be, but the passion was never there. Chemistry isn't inspiring, at least not to me. Words, literature, English, language, music, humor, romance, passion...that is what life is made of.

These are my inclinations. And they always have been. However, these inclinations don't exactly draw the job offers or the moulah. So here lies the dilemma. I could be John Keating. I could be Mr. Brandt. It's not the money that necessarily appeals to me. Surely I have made that clear. I only wish to be able to pay my rent and live within my means while still being able to tolerate what I do for a living. My means are not that complicated. If I knew the opportunities were there, if I knew I could live up to my own expectations, I would do it in a second.