JLNobody wrote:I don't know about you; you may be one of those "young turks" who are ready and willing to devote your life to the writing of grants in order to bring your employer overhead money. I, frankly, would prefer to become a professional gardner.
I studied in the history department myself ... to be more precise, Russia and Eastern Europe studies. Absolutely fascinating. And I can still put a little bit of that stuff into my work now, sometimes - and there's always an envisionable (if not exactly sure-fire
) chance I'll get a job more directly involved with it in the next few years. See my sister.
One thing that kinda made me link off from the whole thing, though, is the perplexing degree to which the "young Turk" thing does come up. Without talent, of course, you're not going to make it. But without a certain intense, personal ambition - the kind that makes you enjoy post-conference networking opportunities and looking for chances to "score" - you're not either. Call me foolishly naive, but I did have this fleeting "professor in his study" image - one that implied that mere devotion to the subject matter, at least in the ivory tower of university's alpha studies, would still be enough to float up. Not. And not just am I hopeless at the ambition thing - I just dont
see it - it actually positively revolts me.
So if I look back now and think about what I would do if I had the chance to start again at 17, I seriously would consider ... "gewoon een vak leren" (thats for Rick ;-)). That is - learning a profession. Not the way your cynical "money-is-more-important-than-you-think,-young-man" uncle meant it - not in order to become an account manager. But a real
profession, a skill that makes you able to make something other people can't, a skill that doesn't rely on a way with words, a skill you could put to work no matter where on earth you are.
This, of course, alas, takes me right back into
another fairytale world of childhood imagination. Bookbinder/printer. Silversmith. Furniture maker. Photographer. Or, yes, gardener. Unfortunately, most artisan professions (though not gardening, I presume) are threatened, dying or extinct - at least in the "first" world. (Wholly apart from me having two left hands).
Guess I'm going from the rain into the drip here ....
