Decisions, decisions...

Laura Hanley — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:15:22 +0000

Anyone else starting to think about what you’re going to do after done with your CTC VISTA term of service? (I’m only about 5 ½ months in…) I’ve been trying to figure it out since day one practically. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not because I hate what I’m doing and am counting the days until I’m done. Far from it, in fact! I love what I’m doing, I love the people I’m working with, I love where I work, the list goes on!

Part of the reason why I chose to be a member of the AmeriCorps VISTA program for a second year is because I didn’t know what I wanted to do after completing my first year. Sure, I had a much better idea, but the options were so numerous, and I didn’t feel ready to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life career-wise. So I decided to take another year to try to make up my mind (among other things), but wanted to continue to make a difference while learning something new. (My first year as a VISTA member was spent managing volunteers, planning events, creating publications, and doing research for the homeless coalition in Indianapolis…COMPLETELY different from what I’m doing now so I can’t even compare the two.)

Learn new things I have. I honestly never imagined that I would have any sort of technical position because I didn’t have the background (I graduated with a degree in audiology and speech-language pathology), but here I am testing software and providing technical support, to name a couple things. And I’m finding out it’s not so bad. And a few HTML, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop classes later, I’m finding out it’s really pretty neat.

So where does that leave me? (This is my fourth time starting this paragraph.) Although I’m at no professional level or expert, it seems like I have more options. If I recall correctly, I think it was Jimmy Buffett who said “Indecision may or may not be my problem.”

Digital Arts Service Corps - AmeriCorps

Decisions, decisions...