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Probably the most important lesson I learned from college was never say never. You can accomplish almost anything as long as you realize what the prize is and you keep your eye focused on it.
As a child, I loved and was fascinated by wild places and the creatures that live there, but as I got older, the only professions this city kid could imagine that would let me indulge those interests was either "park" or "forest" ranger. Yeah, I realize neither of those terms are very meaningful.
Then someone, a student counselor or teacher informed me that pursuing either of those professions would require lots of college level math and hard science. Both of which I feared and hated. So, I abandoned them in favor of another interest that came much easier: visual and illustrative arts. I was fortunate to have some innate skills there, so that's what I prioritized up until and into college. A local gallery owner/art instructor was kind enough to mentor me and give me showings in her gallery. Sales of the work helped me pay college expenses. I'm sure she didn't mind the revenue either!
All was well and I was happy. For about two years. Then the rot started to set in. It was too easy. I got increasingly frustrated, puzzled, even bored. I found while I enjoyed applying those skills and enjoyed the creativity, pursuing art for its own sake just wasn't enough. I considered them communication tools, not ends in themselves. But tools to communicate for the benefit of what?
Long story short, I had an odd sort of epiphany during a chance meetup with the director of a nature reserve while walking a trail near the college. I realized what I cared about more than anything else was ensuring places like that would always exist for all the creatures depending on them. Stemming from that single conversation, I ended up changing my major, my university, and ultimately what became a 40 year career. Didn't know where to start making the change happen, but a conversation with an anonymous woman on the phone with the state's employment agency helped me figure out what professional titles came closest to matching what I wanted to do. She read me the prerequisite college coursework and degrees necessary. I'll never forget pouring my heart out to my mother on the phone about this huge change in direction. She was understandably concerned. "But honey, you don't like science!"
All those horrible classes like chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics still lay between me and a useful degree, but they became a means to an end. Once the motivation changed, they weren't so terrible. Were they easy? No, but they were non-negotiable, thus survivable. I also found myself in "soft" sciences like biology, veterinary physiology, taxonomy, biology, and my ultimate favorite; ecology (you know, big picture thinking and study of entire systems such as the Nile River watershed, boreal forests, deserts, etc.) Just soaked the stuff up almost effort free.
Sorry for the life story, but I firmly believe you can achieve what matters most to you. You just have to let yourself realize what that is.
it wasn't a long story and you certainly don't have to apologize, it was,
no you were a very interesting read!
and your right, there isn't anything one can't do, once you put your mind to it....
and in your case, talk about meeting the right people at the right time, is what interested me, it was like it was pre-destined for you....Good for you!
Last edited by cremebrulee; 05-02-2024 at 07:21 PM..
By definition, I don’t agree all children ‘obsess’ or are troubled by intrusive and repetitive thoughts; interests, passions or even fears do not (necessarily) equate to such. That said, I loved baseball as a kid; when I wasn’t playing, though, I didn’t keep thinking/obsessing about it. In fact, I think most kids have a short attention span. ;-)
Bootsamillion All of that is fun, but nothing will ever compare to my lifelong love of horses. A pet that you can ride, now how cool is that?
Nope, for me either, nothing could compare to horses for me either....but dang, you really had some injuries, didn't you....
I rode all the time, or as much as possible.....so loved my horse, and wish to this day I'd have taken pictures of him. I had no fear...rode bareback all the time, taught myself to jog and would let him open up to a full gallop, what a great spiritual feeling for me. We'd ride all day sometimes and I still couldn't get enough of him, he was a good horse...18 hands high pure white open jumper thoroughbred. I had my share of close calls, but never anything like you....guess I was lucky.
But he to, was my best friend, what a good horse he was....
for you horse lovers, you might want to catch the docu movie, called Harry and Snowman, it's streaming on Tubi....true story.
Last edited by cremebrulee; 05-02-2024 at 08:49 PM..
Popular music. When I was 9 and my brother was 6, we began listening to top 40 shows on the radio to the point of extreme obsession. By the time I was 14, I was addicted to the radio and remain a major music fan to this day.
My parents told me I was throwing before I could walk. They said I used to throw things out of my crib at people that walked by.
I once threw my house key into the lock from 10 feet away. It took me a number of attempts and when the old man saw all the scratches around the door knob he thought someone had been trying to break in.
I used to bet kids money that I could throw a pencil point-first into the pencil sharpener at school from 10 feet away. One time the teacher walked in just as I put one in and he was flabbergasted, he said he never saw anyone do that before.
A couple of carnivals banned me from some of the booths where they had throwing contests because I was winning all their best prizes.
There used to be this big apple tree across from the grade school I attended and every day after school kids would climb it and eat apples. One day this older kid and his little brother were throwing apples and one hit my younger brother.
He went up to the older one and told him he threw like a girl and that I could throw a lot better than he and that I could knock a stick out of his mouth with an apple from 20 feet away. The kid didn't believe my brother and it was decided his little brother would be the test subject.
We gave him a small twig from the tree and had him put it in his mouth, turn sideways, and keep his eyes closed so he wouldn't move when the apple was coming. The apple I picked had more of a pear-shape to it and the moment it left my hand I knew I was off a bit. It hit that little kid right in the jaw, he fell to the ground screaming and crying. His big brother chased me down the street throwing apples at me. My brother was right, I did knock the twig out of his mouth, it went flying.
I lost count of all the birds and dragon flies I hit in midair. I developed a reputation as a thrower and was blamed for every busted window in the neighborhood. All the kids I knew would not walk ahead of me, fearing I would plunk them with something.
About the only throwing I do these days are with darts. I have 15 dartboards in my basement and garage. Under one of the darts on a board in the garage is the impaled corpse of a fly that I nailed last year.
I had some weird ones. I was precocious, could read at the age of 2, skipped 3rd grade, etc. So, I went through phases where I obsessed over certain aspects of the world that most kids probably ignored or simply didn't notice. One of my first obsessions was house numbers. I'd beg my parents or grandparents to drive me down unfamiliar sidestreets so I could track the house numbers on those streets. I was born in '86, and when a nearby town began building numerous subdivisions in the late '80s and early '90s which featured house number differentials of 2 rather than 4 or 6, I was transfixed. That 'hobby' lasted years, and even once it loosened its hold on my psyche, it was still something I found myself paying attention to throughout the years.
After that, it was makes and models of cars on the road. Plymouth Sundances versus whatever the Dodge equivalent was, Ford Tauruses versus Mercury Sables, Chevy Tahoes versus GMC Jimmies, Chevy Camaros vs Pontiac Firebirds--these things blew my mind. Let's not forget the rather grotesque Ford Aerostar as compared to its much more aesthetically pleasing cousin, the Mercury Villager. Then you had Chrysler dominating the minivan market of the mid-90s with the identical Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager...imagine my excitement on the 1 of 500 occasion when I was attempting to settle the Voyager v Caravan question but instead encountered a Chrysler Town & Country! That was the minivan for rich people! My middle-class family owned an emerald green '94 Voyager...I'd spy the rare Town & Country and marvel at the 'LX' designation, imagining that there may well be power locks and windows contained within. Then the traffic light would change and it'd be back to Grand Am or Grand Prix, Chevy Cavalier or Pontiac Sunbird
Then I moved onto the harder drug of trying to read tire brands off the tires of stopped cars. After that, it was state route numbers, county road numbers (when I could find them), unfamiliar road networks...my paternal grandfather loved to take random drives (he was the quintessential 'Sunday driver', always driving exactly the speed limit and often driving to nowhere in particular), and I loved to be in the car when he took those drives.
My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer within the past week, and it's spread to her liver. My father has suffered from catatonic depression over the past five years, and it's essentially inevitable that he suffers a serious setback in the near future given the circumstances. It's therefore nice to think back to happier times.
ETA Forgot to mention baseball cards and other collectibles (but especially baseball cards). That's material for another post. I'll just say that my obsession in that department caused me to keep every cardboard Sports Illustrated For Kids card that I ever received (9 per monthly issue for several years). All but one of those cards was/is completely worthless. The one that isn't? A Tiger Woods card from 1996 which to this day is considered his rookie card. Versions of those cards that have received a grade of 10 (out of 10, obviously) have sold for six figures on Ebay. I've never gotten mine graded but there are no obvious imperfections. Friend of mine owns a sports card store and I've told him on and off for years that I'll bring it in to get a 'professional opinion', but I've yet to do so
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 05-02-2024 at 10:32 PM..
Baseball statistics. I would buy baseball magazines, in particular Baseball Digest, and pore over the stats. Strikeout leaders since 1900, home run and RBI leaders, you name it. I'd tally up which team had the most leaders in each category, which team had the longest drought between leaders, etc.
I guess an obsession with data was a precursor to my becoming a professional computer programmer and amateur stock trader.
Me too. I got the Sports Illustrated almanac for Christmas every year and attempted to commit to memory the records and major stats for all four major American sports. The book 'Moneyball' was published when I was in high school, and I was a devoted Oakland A's fan for years after that. Still have some residual A's fandom (though I think it's fair to say that the 'Moneyball' era for Oakland ended some time ago), but I really only watch baseball when betting these days
It may be more accurate to ask what was your "obsession" or strong interest/hobby as a child. Of course one isn't clinically "obsessed" with that in the pathological sense.
Don't worry about semantics. I think most people got the idea
I was raised in a cult, so as I child I was obsessed with being a very good person so that I didn't make God angry enough to kill me and my family.
Other than that, lol, I didn't have obsessions, but I did get fixated on all the trends and fads through the years. Barbie and baby dolls, bubble stickers, jeans, my hair...the usual. Probably no more than the next growing girl in my circle.
I for one would appreciate a follow-up post elaborating on the first sentence...jeez. I was raised Catholic and am now atheist, but Catholicism is among the most casual and least cult-like of religions (at least as typically practiced these days). UUs are probably the very most casual, come to think of it
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