Now in My Twenties

Friends and Family, as you may or may not know, I am now a high school teacher in Dallas. I teach 9th grade Professional Communications, which involves practical learning that applies to the real world, such as business writing, business etiquette, ACT prep, college and career readiness, and much more.  One of the first things I’d like to do for my scholars is connect them with people who work in the same industry they’d like to join. So far, my scholars have expressed an interest in dentistry, business, engineering, marine biology, nursing, medicine, acting, law, and journalism. They have also expressed interest in the following universities: UCLA, TCU, Florida State, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale, and Berkeley. My scholars are very eager to learn more about these college and career paths and what it takes to succeed in them. I am reaching out to all my colleagues to assist my scholars in their networking. Please know that if I reach out to you, it is because you ar...

So there I was. All dressed up and in my car, following the voice of my GPS, making turn after turn. I had made a wrong turn sometime earlier, making my GPS go into overdrive trying to steer me back the right way. She insisted I go back to the main road (I programmed my GPS to have a female voice; no way would my pride be able to take another man’s voice telling me what to do.) Turn right, turn left, left again, she said. But, of course, to no avail. Finally, I accepted the undeniable truth; I would not get to my destination tonight. My destination was a restaurant in a very business-y section of downtown Fort Worth. A local group was meeting there tonight for after-hours drinks and networking. I hadn't been to these meetings in almost a year. Not quite sure how I felt about going back. But the voices of all the no-nonsense career experts kept talking in my head, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” As usual, I listened and did as I was told. But I have to admit, th...

This post is a little late in timing. I know graduation was back in May—and to all those who graduated, congratulations! It wasn’t easy. Hell, it was really hard. But that’s okay because you did it and no one can ever take that away from you. But now that it’s been a few months; now that you’ve had a chance to settle in; now that you’ve seen a little bit of The Real World, I’m sure you have found yourself questioning at some point or other, “Is this it?” and maybe even “what now?” I know because I am still asking myself those questions too. Now, I might be wrong. You could be doing exactly what it was that you had set out to do after graduation. You could be making the big bucks; travelling the world; finding the love of your life; moving to New York, et cetera, et cetera. Or you could be at a grayish cubicle day in and day out with a nondescript job title earning little more than $15 an hour. For many of us, this is our reality. But let me be very clear, this is not a...