got some time to kill

Two months have gone by without my noticing that this blog hasn't been updated. Surprise surprise.

I haven't updated at all since I started my job, but there isn't a whole lot to write about. I take care of children and the days go by pretty quickly, for the most part. It's not a bad job, but the funny thing is that whenever I meet new people and am asked what it is that I "do," I'm always a little embarrassed to say that my full time job is taking care of children (who aren't mine). Lots of people make a great living doing the same thing (and I'm grateful for the opportunity), but it's hard for me to admit for the simple fact that I went to college for 5 years... not to learn how to take care of children.

This week the family that I work for is on spring break and I'm filling in at my boss' office for the week. My main job is to answer the phone and complete any tasks that are asked of me, which usually takes about 5 minutes. Needless to say, I've had a fair amount of downtime this week - downtime during which I am able to do whatever I want on the computer, but still try to appear as if I'm working on something worthwhile. No one ever questions what I'm doing, so I'm not really concerned about doing something wrong.

Last week my boss (one of the parents of the family that I work for) brought up the possibility of hiring me here at his office in the fall, when the kids are all in school full time. The idea is appealing because there aren't many opportunities of paid employment for me here since my immigration paperwork hasn't been filed yet. But being here this week has been eye-opening in a few different ways: (1) I've kind of discovered what I'd be expected to do here... and I have next to no interest in this business. Then I end up talking to my new co-workers here about what it is that I actually want to do with my life, and I've realized that (2) it's going to take a lot of work for me to pursue that path. And (3) working here wouldn't help me at all.

So I've been doing some research and trying to get a plan together for my life. When I'm done with my job I'm going to do a lot of volunteering and figure out what the best academic road is for me, do a masters in something and at least be able to say that I have some experience doing something that interests me when I apply for jobs. I hate being in transition, but I feel like once I'm done with this job and have (hopefully) paid off my student loans, I'll be able to spend my time doing something that I'm passionate about. I just probably won't get paid for it for a while.