Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Post-Graduation Plan

Katie D.

October 25, 2009 - 2:52 PM

During my whole life people have asked me what I want to be when I grow up. It's what you ask kids when they're really little. It's what parents are thinking when kids start showing some talent in an academic area: kids with A's in math might be engineers, kids who are caught writing stories are the next Stephen King. Then you get a little older and start thinking about it for yourself: you start to pick your own activities, and you start to realize that some of your areas of passion do not match up to your talents (for example: much as I would like to walk on the moon, I will never be an astronaut because I am abysmal at math).

Then junior year of high school hits and the only question in your life is the College Question. "Where" and "In What?" By senior year, you've explained and agonized for hours. What do I want to be, anyway? And which of these majors will help me get there?

I was lucky because I found the UO and immediately knew I wanted to be here. I was also lucky because my high school had offered enough Advanced Placement classes that I came to the UO with sophomore level classes, which has meant that in four years I will be able to complete two majors, have an advance standing in a language, write a thesis, and travel abroad.

But now it's senior year of college, and the questions are coming faster all the time. By the time you graduate from college, you should be pretty darn sure what it is you're going to do with your life. "What will you do in the fall?" is a question that is now ever-present for the class of 2010. Are we starting careers? Going straight to grad school? Traveling? Joining Peace Corps, Teach for America, or another volunteer organization? Going home to live with Mom and Dad? Will we get into law school or medical school? Are we ready?

Well, folks, these questions have been on my mind for a long time now. I'm getting closer and closer to that "What will you do when you grow up" question, and have a solid answer to "What will you do in the fall?" Relieved? Oh, yes.

Before I tell you the plan, let me briefly tell you what the plan was a month ago.

I was going to graduate in June, then spend the summer working with the American English Institute. This job ends in August, and then I planned to go back to Arizona to work with No More Deaths. In the fall I was going to head off for two or three years of travel: English teaching and Humanitarian Aid work starting in Spain and ending who-knows-where. I love travel more than just about any other activity these days. Also, twenty-two is the perfect time to be traveling: I have some applicable skills, no career to interrupt, no kids or significant other, and basically no furniture. I can leave and have nothing to store.

These plans are now on hold.

This fall I will be entering a Masters program in Conflict Resolution at the University of Oregon. It is a two-year program with a combined model of a cohort of students and an internship/final project that means the skills learned in class are practically applied in the real world. I will then have skills in mediation, negotiation, restorative justice, facilitating, and other non-violent conflict resolution skills that I can apply to basically any professional area.

Readers, I don't know how much of a "feel" you've gotten for me over the last year of blogging, but if you know me at all, you can't help but see that this program is perfect for me. I am so, so excited.

In addition to this, I hope to work as a Graduate Teaching Fellow in the area of peacemaking and ethics at the University of Oregon in the coming years. A GTF position pays the majority of your tuition, plus a stipend. It also would allow me to work to increase the University's standing as an institution devoted to peace and social justice.

And, if everything goes as I hope it will, this will include co-facilitating classes through the Inside-Out Program, putting my instructor's training to use in classrooms at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

I am joyfully postponing my future travel plans, and embracing this new direction for my post-grad life.

Of course, the larger question remains: What will I do with my life?

Well, I'll tell you.

I'm going to graduate school next. Then I'm going to work with organizations working for peace and social justice for several years. I will travel and refine my interests. Then eventually I'll become a college professor. I'll spend my life in activism, research, publishing, and advocating for social justice. I'll find a community like the one I've found here at the University of Oregon: a network of faculty, students, and community members devoted to making positive change in the world. I'll bring the skills I've gained here as an undergrad and my future studies and activism to create a person who is ready to do this essential work.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be someone who will change the world."

That someone is getting closer all the time: I am in the process of becoming ready to be someone who makes a large mark on the world. One step closer, and the next step planned. Here we go!