Do you remember a few weeks ago when I shared in this post how my dad is famously known for his one-liners of wisdom? I want to share another one that’s stuck with me for years that’s been so applicable to the constantly-changing seasons in my adult life.
At the end of my sophomore year of college I abruptly changed my major from Journalism/Broadcasting to Secondary Education & English. In order to earn a bachelor’s degree from The University of Alabama one had to have around 120 credit hours completed, and I ended up graduating with 156. As I neared graduation I was talking with my dad about how I felt like I had wasted an entire year of college (and a lot of money) by taking classes that didn’t end up counting toward my degree in education.
Without missing a beat, he told me no knowledge is ever wasted knowledge. He continued to explain that those journalism and broadcasting courses may not be directly applicable on paper toward a career as a teacher but that I would never know when the skill sets I learned from those courses would come in handy.
I jumped around a lot in the professional world (due to Jamie’s Army career) for 3.5 years before I became a stay-at-home mom. I taught at a private middle school, then I became a nationwide school public speaker speaking in front of audiences as big as 2,000+ people a day (something I never thought I’d be capable of doing), and then I became a public high school English teacher and cheerleading coach. I could go on and on about how these experiences lent themselves to each other, but I won’t because BORING.
In a nutshell, each of my previous experiences helped me to excel in areas of my job that I might have struggled in otherwise or gave me experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. No experiences in your schooling, the work field, volunteer positions, etc., are ever wasted; They just work together to shape who you are, what you know, and what you can offer.
The other day I spent three hours (Hadley’s entire nap time) trying to figure out how to put those dropdown menus at the top of my page. During the frustration and trial and error I briefly wondered if I’m wasting time working so hard on my blog these days. I quickly shifted gears though and thought about how I’m using my brain to problem solve and how I never know what experience(s) in the future will benefit from gaining this skill set with being a blogger and learning all that I am about writing, marketing, coding, and much more. Plus, I love this site so much.
To be honest, I’m not sure what my career looks like in the future. Sometimes I can’t wait to get back into the classroom, but other days I wonder if there’s another job field out there for me that I’m supposed to be in. I don’t know. About a year ago I found myself in a place where I was very overwhelmed about the future and what I should do career-wise. I know that in this season I want to be a SAH mom for several more years, but I didn’t know if I should be using this time to take online masters courses or doing something else to pursue and plan for a future career.
Today I’m not overwhelmed anymore. Though I unfortunately don’t have a crystal ball showing me what my career life looks like once my babies are in school, I feel confident that things will become a bit more clear as we near that time and that I’m right where I should be/want to be in this season. For crying out loud, the title Whimsical September is all about pleasant surprises in my life, so I have a peace that I don’t need to have my whole life figured out at 28. 🙂
Though some of us may have more long-term plans/goals than others, none of truly know what’s around the corner and what opportunities will be there. At the end of the day, no knowledge from any experience is ever truly wasted.
Let’s chat!
Have you ever felt like you were wasting your time in a specific position but found it helpful with something you did later? Do you agree with my dad’s advice?
Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo