Job ideas:

Sometimes I wonder why I’m here. I don’t mean that in the cosmic, ‘meaning-of-life’ type of way, but instead mean something far more prosaic. Why am I in Topeka, attending law school in the first place? It’s a question that I wrestle with when I have to confront the dark things before I fall asleep.

I never wanted to be a lawyer, really. It has never – not for a single instant – ever been my ambition to be in a courtroom arguing in front of a jury. I’ve never been engrossed by things like ‘service of process’ or ‘jurisdictional grants.’

Here following is a list of things I used to think I might be ‘when I grew up’ dating from elementary school through undergraduate career:

Lounge singer: My father and mother are both blessed with excellent voices and I (though not my brother so much, strangely) inherited their vocal chords. Give me my morning ride in my car on the way to school and I’ll work my way through a little Sinatra, Mel Torme, and maybe a showtune or two. As much as I love music, I haven’t turned on the radio in my car since I was a freshman at my beloved Alma Mater.

Dinosaur Wrangler: ‘Nuff said.

Gymnast: This one was more from my elementary school days. I watched the gymnasts on the Olympics and I thought that the guy gymnasts looked really cool and was impressed by how they could hang on the rings and do weird flips and such just with the exertion of their arms. It looked fun. There is zero possibility of this as a serious career now.

Veterinarian: I’ve always felt a lot of sympathy for my non-human animal friends, mainly because they were always there for me, even when my non-‘non-human animal’ friends were downright mean. My little dogs never had insults, torments, or slights; only fuzzy, happy goodness. I have a hard time putting aside that sympathy sometimes, and I think that a job that deals with helping to ease the suffering of beings fits me to a ‘T.’

Highschool teacher: I’ve been in love with the idea of teaching high school since I was in high school myself. I could picture myself teaching civics, government, psychology, philosophy, and maybe even a basic course in human biology or microbiology. I could be the faculty sponsor for things like chess clubs, debate and forensics, or academic trivia competitions.

Politician: In my own mind, I think I would make one of the best political figures of the 21st century. I have a deep compassion for the suffering of the downtrodden and a strong sense of duty and a mind filled with deep principles of human conduct. I’d be the politician who refused his salary and instead took the check to the local food bank or homeless shelter. I’d be the politician who publicly demanded to know why the military needed those dozen new tanks instead of a laptop for every student in my district. I’d be the politician who pulled no punches on denouncing the corruption of other politicians and would expect – no… demand – that others live up to the duties imposed on them by the public trust. And that’s why I would never get any votes and would only last one term in office. What I’m most afraid of if I ever would get to be in office is either that I would prove myself unable to resist temptation (I have a dark fear that I don’t possess enough self-control to live justly and free from corruption), or that a term in office would so jade me that I would find myself apathetic about relieving the suffering of others and righting the wrongs of the world.

Visionary: I wish that this job existed. The first time I heard a recording of Bobby Kennedy saying his famous line (“Some men look at things the way they are and ask ‘why.’ I look at things that never were and ask ‘why not?’”) I knew that this described how I deal with the world. It’s why I’m drawn to radical theories and creative solutions. Don’t like urban sprawl? Build an Arcology somewhere. World too overpopulated? Why not have O’Neill cylinders orbiting the Earth? Why should people have bones made out of bone when we could replace those bones with synthetic plastics that are stronger? Don’t like how inefficient car travel is? Why not subscribe to my ‘underground egg’ transportation idea? Power problems? Cover Antarctica with solar panels and use microwave radiation beams to send the electricity to shore. Without the courage of the people willing and able to dream the big dreams, where would we be?

Theorist/Writer: Every once in a while, I pick up my political treatise and work on it. I have in mind what seems to me to be a straightforward explanation of how civilizations start, of the proper role and organization of government, of how human interactions in general are structured, and more. I think it is a fabulous blending of moral philosophy and biological systematics. Who knew that a brief education in biology and economics could lead to such fascinating advances in my study of politics? One of my greatest dreams (next to being a husband and father) is that a government teacher in 200 years will have her students reading excerpts from Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Mussolini, Marx, and [Academian].

The closest I have been able to come to an answer in my quest to come up with a career-oriented reason for my presence in Topeka at law school is a thought that I might make a good judge. As hard as it is for me to try to walk the path of justice myself, I think that black robes and a gavel might just help me make my little dent in the injustice of the world.