Writer's Block: My Dream Job
Sep. 16th, 2009 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I am holding one of my dream jobs right now, actually. I've wanted to do the JET program since middle school, I think-- and here I am. It involves Japan, language, teaching, sharing culture, kids, English grammar (because I secretly am a grammar-nazi-- regardless of the occasional typo here)-- lots of things I love. I also have a good amount of down time for exploring Japan (and hopefully other places in nearby Asia) and personal pursuits.
However, I can only do it for a maximum of five years, and I don't know that I'll stay that long anyway. This is okay, however, since I feel like I'm the sort of person who craves a change of scenery every once and a while, something new to be passionate about.
After all, I actually have several dream jobs. I want to be a writer-- and this is something I will do on the side no matter what I do as my day job. (It'd be awesome to have it as a full-time career, but I'm not holding my breath). I'm teaching right now, and I've trained for and am looking into teaching when I return to the States, too. I've thought about textbook publishing, because with my interests in writing and teaching (and the severe lack of non-retarded Japanese language textbooks for high schools) and I might have a niche there. My parents hate this one, but if I get bored or frustrated and am able and willing to go back to school, I've also thought about something in psychology, like counseling. (Mom says I would psychoanalyze everyone and drive them crazy. The thing is-- I already psychoanalyze everyone. All formal study does is give me a degree that says I've got the authority to!).
This may or may not fall under the "job" category, but it's on my list, too: I would like to be a stay-at-home mom when my kids are young (ie: before they start school-- and since I've trained to be a teacher, I could even keep the same schedule as them during the school years, too). I don't know if I'll be in the financial position to do this, but I'd much rather keep them out of daycares when they're little and raise them myself. I feel like I'll have that much closer of a bond with them. Kids are exposed to so much cruelty, injustice, and just general institutional bullshit in the school systems these days, I want to have some time to give them a good center of self and a strong bond with the family to protect them through those potentially difficult years. I'm not going to go shelter-crazy; I don't feel like I have to homeschool them or anything, but I feel like putting them in daycare from the get-go, without any sort of center at home, just brings them up with the belief that the structure of daycare and school is the only structure there is or ever will be in the world. I'm sure so much of this is because my mom stayed home with us all the way until my high school years, but thinking about it . . . I don't know, I must be some sort of hippie or something, but I don't trust The Man (or even the babysitter down the street) to raise my kids better than me.
I've got several different dream positions for several different stages of my life. It seems natural to me that as a mature and progress through life's milestones, I seek out different types of work that fulfill me in the ways I need. From living abroad and working in a position that demands a lot of energy and flexibility while I'm young to committing myself to my family when they need me most in my children's early days, here's hoping I'm fulfilled no matter what I'm doing at any given time.
I am holding one of my dream jobs right now, actually. I've wanted to do the JET program since middle school, I think-- and here I am. It involves Japan, language, teaching, sharing culture, kids, English grammar (because I secretly am a grammar-nazi-- regardless of the occasional typo here)-- lots of things I love. I also have a good amount of down time for exploring Japan (and hopefully other places in nearby Asia) and personal pursuits.
However, I can only do it for a maximum of five years, and I don't know that I'll stay that long anyway. This is okay, however, since I feel like I'm the sort of person who craves a change of scenery every once and a while, something new to be passionate about.
After all, I actually have several dream jobs. I want to be a writer-- and this is something I will do on the side no matter what I do as my day job. (It'd be awesome to have it as a full-time career, but I'm not holding my breath). I'm teaching right now, and I've trained for and am looking into teaching when I return to the States, too. I've thought about textbook publishing, because with my interests in writing and teaching (and the severe lack of non-retarded Japanese language textbooks for high schools) and I might have a niche there. My parents hate this one, but if I get bored or frustrated and am able and willing to go back to school, I've also thought about something in psychology, like counseling. (Mom says I would psychoanalyze everyone and drive them crazy. The thing is-- I already psychoanalyze everyone. All formal study does is give me a degree that says I've got the authority to!).
This may or may not fall under the "job" category, but it's on my list, too: I would like to be a stay-at-home mom when my kids are young (ie: before they start school-- and since I've trained to be a teacher, I could even keep the same schedule as them during the school years, too). I don't know if I'll be in the financial position to do this, but I'd much rather keep them out of daycares when they're little and raise them myself. I feel like I'll have that much closer of a bond with them. Kids are exposed to so much cruelty, injustice, and just general institutional bullshit in the school systems these days, I want to have some time to give them a good center of self and a strong bond with the family to protect them through those potentially difficult years. I'm not going to go shelter-crazy; I don't feel like I have to homeschool them or anything, but I feel like putting them in daycare from the get-go, without any sort of center at home, just brings them up with the belief that the structure of daycare and school is the only structure there is or ever will be in the world. I'm sure so much of this is because my mom stayed home with us all the way until my high school years, but thinking about it . . . I don't know, I must be some sort of hippie or something, but I don't trust The Man (or even the babysitter down the street) to raise my kids better than me.
I've got several different dream positions for several different stages of my life. It seems natural to me that as a mature and progress through life's milestones, I seek out different types of work that fulfill me in the ways I need. From living abroad and working in a position that demands a lot of energy and flexibility while I'm young to committing myself to my family when they need me most in my children's early days, here's hoping I'm fulfilled no matter what I'm doing at any given time.
