Comments:
I guess you could say I took the bassackwards route to "doing what I wanted to do whenever I grow up." I went straight to La Tech after summer 79 but I had NO idea what I wanted to study. I only knew that I really liked radio after DJ-ing a little at WBRH. So I spent Freshman year taking all kinds of classes and pretty much living and learning at the Tech radio station KLPI. I even became a news director for a short stint. Pretty soon decided to major in Journalism with an emphasis on Broadcasting. But once I earned enough credits to qualify as staff reporter for the college newspaper, I found that I didn't like reporting on the "5 W's." But you know what? That lady over in the Ads Dept was cute so I thought I'd try selling ads and making a little $$ at the same time. Then in 82 I pulled up roots and switched to LSU since Tech didn't offer an Advertising degree. But in Spring 1983, after a single semester I dropped. I had pretty much become miserable and frustrated at myself and disillusioned at my lack of direction. I thought that perhaps time away would help out and told myself that I WILL return once I figured out what I wanted to do. "It's only temporary." Problem was, I just didn't know what the hell I WANTED to do.
I just knew that in my case, what I did would require a college degree.
So I found a job that didn't have much in the way of responsibility, yet be an easy way to make money: bellman at a Hotel in BR. But after a few months I got the itch to move to New Orleans because the 84 World's Fair was coming. I wanted to be in the middle of it. I hired on at a hotel there and moved into a studio apartment near the Fair site and did a little nightlife.
After the Fair, I drifted through the 80's from hotel to hotel, and even briefly as a salesman. In 84 I bought a house. In 86 I got married. In 87 had a kid. In 89 got divorced. Entered the 90's working on a golf course and remarrying. So now I'm in my 30s and beginning to realize that things are not going to get much better if I don't do something to better myself.
In hindsight, I see now that what they say is true. Once away from college, you fall in love with the money and with someone. Before you know it you end up getting caught up in all of the bills and responsibilities to the point where it gets harder and harder to make the sacrifice required to return to college. That was what I was going through during the 90s. I had been spending all that time after 83 chasing the American Dream. I was falling right into the trap I swore I would not fall into.
I guess after running into a few fellow grads on the streets and at the 10-yr reunion in 99, I finally concluded that I had wasted enough time and needed to go back to school even if I STILL did not know what I wanted to study. But this time, I'd explore my options from within the confines of higher education, which is what I should have done the first time. To do otherwise would mean a lifetime of regret.
So in the early 90's, I took the plunge. I enrolled at the University of New Orleans to finish my undergraduate studied. Ironically, I had JUST finished paying off my school loan from the 80s!!! Figures. Then, I discovered the profession of Urban Planning and kept right on going for an additional 2 years until I earned a Masters in Urban Planning.
Why Planning? Well, you get to research, you get to write, you get to help people, you can get a little rich if you go into consulting or you can stay put doing "government work." The job offers continual mental stimulation, learning is continual. You can make a small difference for the community in which you live.
So now I work within local government. Been there since 99. Have 10 years to go. Free time now spent with the family, working on my golf game, keeping my good health, and basic day to day living. I sure took the long way home. But I guess there is a moral to my story: the road you take getting there isn't what's important; the getting there is.
I look so forward to seeing you all at the Reunion.
