GOAL 3: What do I want to be when I grow up?

The third and final stop on the Kelly Bragg #2015newyearnewyou express is to figure out what I'm doing with my life. In the past year, the following phrases have come out of my mouth:

- I think I'm going to go back to school for an MPP
- I think I'm going to go back to school for a PhD
- I want to be a health policy analyst for a non profit or an NGO
- I want to be a Real Housewife
- I'm going to look into the DO program at OU
- The MCATs seem hard
- The CDC is hiring ebola workers, that sounds fun
- I thought about law school for when Logan goes to school, but maybe I'll try hair school instead
- I really bombed that LSAT practice test
- Hair school is $30,000 for 13 months
- Kris Jenner is brilliant.
- Maybe I should try art school.
- Or event planning.
- Or interior design.
- Or industrial design.
- But Terrance, public health does make me happy.

That last one came as part of a conversation that Terrance and I were having about me looking for other jobs and he very earnestly, without a hint of irony, said "have you ever considered doing something that makes you happy?" I assured him that I like public health. He quickly replied that I've never seemed like it. THat I seemed most happy planning parties and showers. These things have always been hobbies for me. Hobbies I enjoy and that I'm good at. But as a career? I really do like public health/health education. I believe in the public health system and what it does. I think it's unbelievably valuable to society. Which is, perhaps, why I get so disgruntled. I don't feel like what I do impacts anyone.

Because the purpose of this is to discuss the future, not the past, I won't elaborate on where I've been. Just believe me that I've been underutilized.

So what is the resolution here? To get a new job? Maybe. To switch careers if I need to to be happy? Possibly. I think it's more to figure out which one of those makes the most sense for me. How am I going to go about that? Here's the loophole for this one - the resolution is actually to figure out what I'm doing, not actually do it. So I have some time, but I have some ideas. To be successful with this resolution, I'm going to:
- continue applying for new jobs. I'm going to try for 1 a week. My rule for new jobs is that I have to apply for jobs that I never would have before. As long as I feel like i could do a good job, I'm applying, regardless of if I meet every requirement. I also need the job to pay a set amount, based on where it is.
-explore other career options. How do I become an event planner? Look into courses on interior design. Sign up for the LSATs. Something, once a month that gives me the opportunity to explore the world beyond my comfort zone

Hopefully, if I do these things, by 2016 I'll be either ridiculously happy, ridiculously wealthy, or both. I'm hoping for that third one.


So there you have it: lose weight, lose debt, and gain purpose. Those are my goals for 2015. They are all challenging in their own way. I don't realistically think that I'll achieve all 3... but wouldn't it be a trip if I did?