Bewildered at 6 and 26: I finally figured it out at 32 by Martha

Bewildered at 6 and 26: I finally figured it out at 32 by Martha - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

Until very recently, I could never clearly see what I wanted to do with my career. I couldn’t see myself as a mom or a teacher or a doctor. When I was six, all I wanted to do was to sit outside and climb fences and look at trees.

As I got older, I craved finding the kind of career I could grow in. I talked with teachers and with family members. What everyone told me was to do what made me happy. The only problem was, no one told me how to figure out what would make me happy.

When I was in school, all I knew was how to be a student. I was a great student. I received good grades in every subject, but I thought I was supposed to go into a career related to the things that were “the easiest” for me. I thought “easy” and “natural talent” were what everyone meant by “what would make me happy”.

Eventually, I settled on studying social work because I love the theories behind social work and I believe in the importance of social justice. I have spent the last ten years as a social worker in nonprofits and higher education. For the last couple of years, I’ve been working at Highline College to help prospective students with career exploration and navigation. Working with others inspired me to reflect on my own career path, and I realized that as much as I love the mission of social work, it is not the best fit for me as a long-term career.

Finally, through my work in helping others with their careers, I was given practical tools to figure out my own ideal career. I love being outside and I always enjoyed math when I was in school. Math and science weren’t the subjects that came easiest to me, so I had always written off a career in something technical.

At the same time that I was working to help others with their careers, I was also in the midst of becoming an athlete for the first time in my life. As a child, I was chubby and awkward and other kids would shout “earthquake” when I would try to run the mile in PE. I was not encouraged to play sports or to try new physical things. In the last 6 years I’ve had the opportunity to finally learn a new sport: roller derby. The greatest thing I learned playing roller derby is that you don’t have to be naturally gifted at something to excel at it. If you work hard, you can become exceptional. I finally understood what everyone meant when they said to do what makes you happy: if you enjoy something, you will enjoy the process of working hard, and if you work hard, you will be successful.

As I began working with students on their career searches, I kept coming across Renton Technical College’s Land Survey Technician program. Land surveying was not a field I’d ever heard of before. The more I read about it, the more interested I became. It seemed like such a perfect fit, combing my love of being outdoors, my newfound physical strength, and my longtime overlooked enjoyment of math. But I was afraid to admit to myself that I wanted to change paths after six years of education and 10 years of experience in social work.

I decided to explore the field of land surveying more to confirm that it was a good fit before making a decision. I was able to meet with the Director of Renton Technical College’s Land Survey program, Martin Paquette, to learn more about the program and the career. Mr. Paquette was kind enough to refer me to Sitts & Hill Engineers to spend a day job shadowing surveyors there. Everything I saw and learned during that experience continued to feed my interest and excitement about land surveying. Afterwards, I had an informational interview with a former land surveyor. Even though he left land surveying, he still had nothing but good things to say about the work. The passion that each person I’ve talked with has for Land Surveying is inspiring and contagious. I can’t wait to get started in the field.

One of my challenges in making this transition to land surveying is that I am still paying off student loans for a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work. In college, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do after my bachelor’s degree. I was encouraged by faculty to get my master’s degree despite my uncertainty. In retrospect, continuing my education at that time was not the best decision for me to make. Because of this existing student loan debt and because I do not qualify for federal grants due to my existing degrees, this scholarship would mean more to me than I can express. I truly appreciate your time and your consideration.