Too many choices......one week to decide!

[buckeyegirl]

Ughhh.....I need advice. I have NO idea what I am going to do next year. I'm torn between staying in my comfort zone, going to graduate school, indulging in my backcountry dream, and holding onto my first love. I know that it is my decision to make, but there is no clear-cut winner in the bunch. Oh, and I have one week to decide.

I'm 25 and am currently working at a university in the office of admissions. It's been great......I get to travel, save money, work with fun people. However, I have an itch to move on. My job is in the same small, mid-western town where I grew up, went to college.....it's become stale. It has no culture or very many people my age in it (they are either younger or older). So, I decided to apply to graduate school in higher education. I guess that I thought I would go through the grad school process and get choices A,B,C and somehow I've ended up with X,Y,Z. Basically, I was accepted into the University of Vermont, University of Michigan, and Oregon State University. However, I have not yet heard back about assistantships at Vermont (there were very few this year, so I'm not extremely optimistic), Michigan gives you nothing but the program is only 1 1/2 years, and I really haven't been pursuing Oregon (didn't go out to Campus Days, therefore, didn't interview for assistantships). I like higher education, but is it work being $40,000 in debt???

Add to the fire that my friend just called the other night to see if I wanted to move out to her house near Breckenridge (I lived out in Colorado for a year after college.....miss it!). She works for marketing at a ski resort and recently bought a condo out there. Her roommate is leaving in May and she needs to find someone by June. This is also appealing because my ex-boyfriend lives out there. This is a whole new thread in itself......our relationship is one big rollercoaster. I know that I need to move on from him, but I still have strong feelings for him. I think he feels the same? We're going to Europe for three weeks this summer.

Then, this ranch that I worked at before has contacted me and offered me a sweet position as a backcountry guide this summer. Basically, I would get paid a nice amount and certified to lead groups on backcountry trips in the mountains. This is right up my alley.....I LOVE the outdoors.

I wish that I could do them all!

[mgoblue424]

you can always defer graduate school.

and what would you do in colorado?

i think i know someone in grad school at UM who is in higher ed. administration. she seems pleased with the program.

enjoy life. i spent too long chasing someone else's dream. find out what you like and go for it.

[rightstar76]

It sounds like you have no focus in your life. That's why you're agonizing so much over what to do. When you have no focus in your life which is the case right now, life decides for you. I'll go over the choices you are facing and help you sort them out. Your current job may be stale, but it works so I would keep it for the meantime. Graduate school? There is no problem with graduate school but you haven't said one positive thing about the programs you got into. Why would you go to graduate school if there was nothing positive and you didn't get any assistantships, etc? You mentioned going to Colorado and being close to an old flame. Bad idea. What future do you have there? Finally, going to the backcountry to guide. Now, if you get the summers off from your current job, I'd say that's a nice thing to do. However, leaving your current job for it? No way. Even if you do get the summers off and can guide over the summer, at some point, you will still need to decide what to do with your life.

You need focus! If you're going to go to graduate school, make sure it's a program you want to go to, and that you have ample opportunities for financial support, etc. Just the other day I was talking to someone who went to graduate school and had little opportunities for internships, etc. He had few job opportunities because of it and regrets not going to a better program. However, he did desire and want to be in the field of his graduate program. In other words, he had a focus, but a lousy program.

Don't know what your focus is? Now is the time to find out. Take it slowly. If it means waiting another year, no problem. But do get some career counseling at your college. Wishing you the best,

Rightstar