The past year has been quite busy for me!  In the past 12 months I have lived in Chattanooga TN, London UK, Bryan TX, New Orleans LA, Los Angeles CA and now I hang my hat in Atlanta GA.  It’s hard to say that in this period of time one can truly live in this many locations, but somehow I have done it.

Now I am faced with trying to figure out the future.  Where will my path lead next?  I am miffed to admit that I do not know.  Through all the change in the last year, I had a plan and a backup plan.  Now I don’t even have plan A.

While I sort through job postings and send out dozens of resumes a thought has crossed my mind… What was my original Plan A?

This question has had great implication for me in the past.  When I found my soul a little lost after college, eventually I regained my happiness when I asked myself “what did you do for fun before college?”  The answer was easy: I spent every waking moment I could possibly spare at the community theater doing anything and everything. Remembering this I stopped trying to replicate my collegiate activities in the post undergrad world and instead returned to my community roots.  This was a great move and all rooted in the question, “What was the original Plan A?”

Now I find myself faced with needing to ask the same question again.  And I have an answer.

Since I was 17 years old my path has been one of politics.  I studied politics and foreign affairs in college with a desire to make a career in the United States Foreign Service. The Foreign Service is no easy career to get started in.  It is highly competitive and highly political.  As a result I have long since determined that the best way for me to start serving humanity and to give me a competitive edge in joining the Foreign Service was to first join the Peace Corps.

By senior year of college I had a change in heart for politics.  I studied Political Science with a concentration in Foreign Policy.  However, as I was nearing graduation I couldn’t help but notice that all these other brilliant, politically-focused minds around me were, well, much more politically-focused than I was. While they were working in the governor’s office and conducting internships on Capital Hill I was obsessing over the organization of concerts and my job in event management with the LSU Athletics Department.

The final final straw came when I took a class senior year title “Foreign Policy Decision Making.”  While this should have been my absolutely favorite class from undergrad I actually came to loath it.  (as an aside, my favorite class was Business Law, followed by the History of Jazz)

Then I was offered a job working in the music industry as a concert promoter and spent the next two years traveling the country with the biggest names in music.  A decision I will never regret.  It was the right thing at the right time.  And I will always carry those experiences and memories with me among my fondest.

However, that came to an end and now here I am, a lost soul.  So what was Plan A? Oh, right: THE PEACE CORPS!

The application process for the Peace Corps takes about a year and boy don’t I wish that I had applied a year ago so that I was departing now!  I don’t know what the next year will hold for me, but if the last year is any indication on how the next year is going to go, then applying for the Peace Corps today is probably a good Idea.

Here I go. Wish me luck!

JM