What will I do (with myself)? This is a question young people ask as they approach graduation from high school or college. I thought I didn't have enough money for college so as high school was ending, I thought I would apply to be in the US Navy. My high school homeroom teacher asked us to write down what we planned to do. He told my guidance counselor who advised me not to join the Navy but to go to college. I told my mother their advice and she said to check with the teachers' college up the road. Following that advice laid down much of the rest of my life.
It was actually helpful that Maryland required a master's degree within 10 years of the bachelor's and it was helpful that I disliked my introductory courses in preparation for teaching. Starting on a master's, doing well in statistics and being interested in improving education and teacher training combined to lead me into a PhD program in testing, statistics and experimental design. The degree led me through a course in the history of higher ed and a job search that ended in teaching in the Education department of a Wisconsin university for 37 years.
My greatgrandson is just beginning on his journey through life. His first step is to learn welding. My daughter is approaching retirement with a long marriage to a man who is already retired. My friend and former doctoral student has said a couple of times that she is not finding retirement to be just what she expected. At times, they all ask "What will I do? How will I spend my time? What will my life like?"
The book "What Color is Your Parachute?" is well-known as a source for exploring job and career possibilities. Richard Bolles, an Episcopal minister, also wrote "The Three Boxes of Life" about education, work and retirement. I used to have a copy but I gave it away. I just ordered another copy.
When I hear a college student say "maybe I don't want to do that for the rest of my life", I try to persuade them to drop the "rest of life" search and look for something that seems interesting and possible for now, or soon. Life is too complicated and possibilities emerge and disappear too often to be all that certain of plans longer than 5 or 10 years in the future. When I began teaching, I certainly had no idea that much of my last years would be spent in front of television cameras teaching large classes of students I couldn't see and would never meet.
