Curious Professor

Dr. S., my chemistry professor, must have gotten curious about me. After class he called to me and asked, “John. What work do you do?”

Now, I really don’t like my current job. In fact, it’s kind of embarrassing to me in some ways. So I told him, “I work in Sandy.”

“Yes,” he smiled, “but that doesn’t answer my question.”

“I’m an internet business mentor. I call people on the phone and help them set up business websites. I really don’t like it, though,” I sheepishly replied. “I’m curious, what made you ask?”

“Well, I guessed you are about 38 years old, and must have been working for several years.”

“Good guess. I’m 39. I’ve already got a Bachelors degree in music composition, I’m just changing careers.” I left out that this was the second career change for me.

“Really? Well, we’ve got to keep our dreams alive. Was my question to personal for you?” he asked.

“Not at all, I’m just curious what makes people think, ‘I wonder what makes this guy so weird.’” I joked.

“Oh, no! I don’t think you’re weird. I just wondered. Like I said, we need to keep our dreams alive.”

I like Dr. S. He’s a good teacher and he knows his stuff. He’s done some pretty important health science stuff in his career as a chemist, and I’ve learned a lot from him.

Like Dr. S., I wonder about me, too. Am I really keeping a dream alive? I’m not sure. Maybe going back to school is a knee jerk reaction to the events of my life these last few years (getting laid off, finding my career outsourced overseas, and my annual income cut by one third). I think the truth may be more that I just got scared about losing one career path, and have decided to rekindle a path I had started when I first started going to college, not believing I could make a career out of music. I’m also pretty passionate about health care, though, so maybe there is more of a driving force than just fear.

Maybe I’m not keeping a dream alive as much as I’m resurrecting one.