These conferences always include a panel of former volunteers to talk about life after Peace Corps, and I’ve had the privilege of offering my two bits of wisdom in several different countries. It always brings back fond memories of my own COS conference; the excitement of the next thing with the grief of leaving the place that had become home. I’ve adventured quite a lot since then, living in and visiting dozens of countries and working in multiple fields, and every time I tell the story I think once again how grateful I am for the journey.
The panelists rotated around to one of six tables, taking a few minutes to share their stories and then answering any variety of random questions from the current volunteers. After I had shared my story in a nutshell; studying science in college, then Microsoft, Peace Corps, Mercy Ships, Disney, Mercy Ships, University of Liverpool, Harvard, and now my current work, I fielded several standard questions and then was thrown a twister. The current volunteer asked something along the lines of,
So when your career derailed, from science to business to health to social justice and policy, how did you handle that?
I understood the question and thought it a great one, and after considering it for a few seconds, I replied,
Your life can never be derailed if you don’t have any rails in the first place.
I went on to explain that if I had a career path decided long ago and had set my heart and mind and focus on achieving that one thing regardless of what happened, that would be like putting down rails. And rails aren’t bad, most of us have them. But when life happens, and your plans derail; there’s a job loss, or an extended illness, or the economy tanks, or you just find you don’t love it, that could be a tragic, life transforming event that throws everything else into chaos. That’s what he was asking about, how to navigate that derailing.
I’ve never put down rails in my life. Way back in college I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to have fun doing it. I’ve never been able to really answer the question of ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ and I admitted to those Peace Corps volunteers that I still don’t have any career aspirations whatsoever. When I’m asked the question now, my answer is, I will be doing good, somewhere in the world. I never would have guessed this is where I’d be now, and I’d never presume to put God in a box and decide what my future looks like.
When you have no rails, then that career change isn’t a tragic life-transforming event; it’s a fun new adventure, an untamed field to explore. When you have no rails, there’s no reason to be miserable just to make it to the next level. I need to be doing good, leaving the world a little bit better than when I came into it; I want to have fun doing it. I want to do cool stuff, and I want to write about it. I want to share my experiences, to help others see outside of their own stories to the global story unfolding on earth. I want to keep learning and keep growing and keep trying to do more and more good in the world… because I don’t know what the point of all this is, if we aren’t loving and serving and breathing life and bringing light and hope and freedom and joy to those who are in need of it.
It’s unorthodox, to be sure; this life without rails can be a wild, sometimes scary adventure that is dependent on a whole lot of faith and obedience and trust… and laughter, and courage, and joy, and gratitude beyond measure. To those volunteers, and to anyone else standing on the edge of the next big thing; consider the possibility of following your heart, or your calling, or your dream, instead of your career path. It’s not necessarily always going to be the right thing, or the best thing, but it is a possibility. And I’ll tell you, in my experience? It’s awesome. My life is incredible and I wouldn’t trade it for any career path in the world.
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| My friend Alex and I in front of the national, US, and Peace Corps flags at the training center |
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