I can totally relate....

One of the most-uttered comments from my college students is, "I have no idea what I want to do with my life", and every time I think to myself, "You have no idea". Unfortunately, they are not yet at the point where they understand that it's ok not to know. Heck, I'm pushing (gulp) 30 and I really still don't know what I want to do. What I know is what I enjoy, so I tend to just follow the career path in that general direction, but really, when I think about committing the rest of my life to it, I feel a little....smothered and panicked. So I assume that just means I'll eventually change my mind and go with the flow.

Case in point:
For the past year I have been thinking about, and kind of planning my next career move. Grad school is included in that and when I graduate next year, I hope to be back in a high school by fall 2007. If there's one major thing that I've learned in my current job, it's that college kids are great, but I prefer high school or even middle school kids, by a very, very large margin. So, while I'm kind of stuck here until I finish my master's degree, I am grateful that I've been able to rule out working with a population that I previously thought I would really enjoy.

But going back to a high school is only part of it. Once I'm there, I'm well aware of the challenges that await me as a guidance counselor, along with the great volume of paperwork and random duties that come with the territory, and that will undoubtedly keep me from focusing soley on college counseling, which is what I really enjoy and would like to continue. In fact, since I'll technically be a 'rookie' in the field, there's a very good chance I won't even get to touch the college access part of guidance counseling for the first year or so. College counseling is an up-and-coming field of its own. It has to be. The whole research, application and financial aid/scholarship process is so huge, and so overwhelming that families are seeking out consultants to help them weed their way through the whole thing. Think about your senior year in high school. I know my guidance counselor was fairly useless and in my years working as a college counselor in Baltimore, it was painfully clear that keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of college access was not something the guidance department considered a priority. In their defense, how could it be? Sure, the whole department is severly dysfunctional, but with all of the demands of Special Education and NCLB (grrr, Bush), their jobs are dependent upon those things, not whether or not the kids get into college. And who has the time to read up on the FAFSA changes and new essay requirements when 400 kids are waiting for new class schedules?

So families are turning to private consultants and I've had this crazy idea to become one. To be honest though, it scares the heck out of me, mostly because I have no idea how to even begin starting up a part-time home business, and in a lot of ways, it seems to be just like the college process: tons of information to wade through. I need a consultant to become a consultant! But I've taken the first step and applied to be a student member of the Independent Educational Consultant's Association (IECA). My old job gave me a very extensive background in college counseling, so I really don't have any doubts that I'll be accepted as a student member, and then I have to work my way up to "associate" before logging hours to become a full-fledge member. It'll take me a few years, and with the wedding planning and grad school, maybe a little longer than that, but I think I can do it. I think it would be fun. I have distant fantasies of eventually making it my full time work-from-home job, but I'd hate to get my hopes up too soon. Now, if only I knew where to go from here.....