Recently, I came across a list of life goals I composed during my sophomore year of college while I was on a spring break mission week in Washington D.C. learning about homelessness.
Life plan
1. study abroad
2. travel in Europe
3. social services internship
4. graduate – Econ & Women’s Studies
5. mission year in Latin America, Catholic Worker Movement
6. work in social services in D.C. for a few years, live in Adams Morgan
7. go to grad school to study women in development
Wear short corduroy pants
From this list, I accomplished 1, 2, 4, and kind of 7 (I studied mortality in grad school rather than women in development). All the social services stuff I was planning to do didn’t happen because I went straight from undergrad to grad school.
It’s interesting to think about where my life would be if I’d taken some time off before grad school because my life goals tend to be driven by circumstance rather than an intrinsic sense of being. When I was in Washington D.C. learning about homelessness, I wanted to live in D.C. and work in social services. My current life goals mainly relate to writing and improv. I don’t think I would have pursued either of these had I not moved to Atlanta, a city with rich literary and comedy scenes.
Given who I am and where I am now, I don’t think 3, 5, or 6 will ever happen. But I’m keeping “wear short corduroy pants” on my list.
How about you? Any life goals you had to cross off your list? How about some you’re still hoping to accomplish?
Sarah Zureick-Brown 