Saturday marked my eighth month in Korea. Let's just stop for a minute to consider the ramifications of that. I have been living in Korea for two thirds of a year. I only have 4 months left here. That realization came with a double-edged fear:
A: OH GOD. I only have 4 months left here. I still have so much to do!
B: OH GOD. I only have 4 months left here. What ON EARTH am I going to do when I get back?
I've started working on mitigating part A by planning trips around Korea and making a point to participate in as many shenanigans with my friends as possible.
Part B is proving a bit more tricky. I have an idea of what I want to do with my life, and I guess now is as good a time as any to share it.
When I was little, I wanted to be a pediatrician (well, first I wanted to be a mommy with a baby. Then I found my inner 5-year-old feminist). Then I changed my mind: I wanted to be a memoirist (despite lacking the word “memoirist” in my child-sized vocabulary). Then I wanted to be a marine mammal biologist. Journalist, asthma researcher, screenwriter, psychologist, cellist, news anchor... until I finally got to college and had to make a decision. I went with a dual degree in journalism and linguistics, but I never forgot my deep, abiding, nerdy love for all things science-y. So I've decided that I want to combine my love for journalism and my love for science... and pursue a career in science journalism. At Old Job (hi, nightteam!), I loved writing the science stories. I loved the challenge of taking something as complicated as the discovery of potentially arsenic-based life forms and explaining it in a way that not only made it simple, but made it sound really, really cool (which, obviously, it was).
So now my next step is to decide how to pursue that. There are a few graduate programs that offer a masters in science journalism, notably MIT's Science Writing program.
However, I'll have a long road ahead of me if I decide to pursue grad school, so I have to figure out what to do in the meantime. I'm toying with a few different options right now, which I may or may not disclose at a later time.
One problem I've started running into is that my writing style is not exactly cover letter material. I keep telling myself, "Tone down the snark, Meg. Lock it down." It's tough going. Job hunts are the worst.
On a happier note, I'm off to Jeonju this weekend! Gonna see some temples, cherry blossoms, and an international film festival. Will report back at a later date.
A: OH GOD. I only have 4 months left here. I still have so much to do!
B: OH GOD. I only have 4 months left here. What ON EARTH am I going to do when I get back?
I've started working on mitigating part A by planning trips around Korea and making a point to participate in as many shenanigans with my friends as possible.
Part B is proving a bit more tricky. I have an idea of what I want to do with my life, and I guess now is as good a time as any to share it.
When I was little, I wanted to be a pediatrician (well, first I wanted to be a mommy with a baby. Then I found my inner 5-year-old feminist). Then I changed my mind: I wanted to be a memoirist (despite lacking the word “memoirist” in my child-sized vocabulary). Then I wanted to be a marine mammal biologist. Journalist, asthma researcher, screenwriter, psychologist, cellist, news anchor... until I finally got to college and had to make a decision. I went with a dual degree in journalism and linguistics, but I never forgot my deep, abiding, nerdy love for all things science-y. So I've decided that I want to combine my love for journalism and my love for science... and pursue a career in science journalism. At Old Job (hi, nightteam!), I loved writing the science stories. I loved the challenge of taking something as complicated as the discovery of potentially arsenic-based life forms and explaining it in a way that not only made it simple, but made it sound really, really cool (which, obviously, it was).
So now my next step is to decide how to pursue that. There are a few graduate programs that offer a masters in science journalism, notably MIT's Science Writing program.
However, I'll have a long road ahead of me if I decide to pursue grad school, so I have to figure out what to do in the meantime. I'm toying with a few different options right now, which I may or may not disclose at a later time.
One problem I've started running into is that my writing style is not exactly cover letter material. I keep telling myself, "Tone down the snark, Meg. Lock it down." It's tough going. Job hunts are the worst.
On a happier note, I'm off to Jeonju this weekend! Gonna see some temples, cherry blossoms, and an international film festival. Will report back at a later date.
I want to do what you're doing. :)
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