A New Meme

I got tagged again - this time it is the 5 things that are in my life that I never would have expected when I was 25.

It will help if I frame this discussion by saying that I was 25 in 1999. It was a momentous year for me. I quit my job as a journalist in northern Wisconsin and moved to Cambridge, MA, to being grad school at Harvard. That being said, this was still very difficult for me, as I realize I didn't have many expectations for my life nine years ago. Not really anyway.

1. I never expected to be working in academia as an administrator, let alone as a fundraiser. In 1999, I still had visions of myself as the brilliant professor or as the superstar academic book editor.

2. I never expected that I would be sad to realize that I feel like I missed out on my real career path as chef. I never even knew it was a career option. When I was younger, there were no chefs. There were only short order cooks working for minimum wage. I am too old now to start at the bottom of a restaurant and work my way up, but perhaps another path will present itself.

3. I never even dreamed that I would move back to the Chicago area, let alone start work for my alma mater. But I am glad I did. Chicago has become very cool, and my alma mater is getting its act together.

4. I never expected that there would come a time when I loathed the deep winter cold with every aching joint in my body.

5. I never would have expected that I would become comfortable with realizing that my presence in the world doesn't really make much of a difference. I'm not superwoman. I am not some big hero. Grand events will not happen in my presence. And I am ok with that.

I am not officially tagging anyone, but if you read this feel free to play along.