As for me, it's been a long three months of wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up - and I'm definitely NOT 18. I still don't know, but with school starting - and my having enrolled in a couple of classes - I'm hopeful that I'll soon figure it out.
It's a strange feeling not knowing exactly what you want to do with your life. Especially when, at 23, I thought I had it all mapped out. A college grad gainfully employed in the field of my choice, I was pretty sure I knew where I was going in life. What I didn't know was that detours exist where you least expect them.
My first dog (as an adult) came into my life while I was working as the community relations director for a local non-profit cancer organization. I wanted her to be well-mannered, so we enrolled in a basic obedience class at a local training school. That's where I first met the team at J9's K9s. By the time we completed our first semester of training, I was hooked. The classes were fun and the six-credits-away-from-a-Psych-minor in me enjoyed sinking my teeth into the learning theory side of dog training. And therein the hobby was born! I continued taking classes, started volunteering, and set out to digest as much R+ training information/education as I could find and afford. Eighteen months later, my position at the cancer foundation was eliminated (public relations: often last to hire, first to fire!) and I was out of a job.
At that point I made the brave leap into dog training full time. Pretty bold career move, but I was fortunate to have (and am thankful for) the support of J9's K9s, and our skill sets worked well together as I was able to bring extensive public relations and marketing expertise to the table in exchange for the opportunity to build my chops as a trainer. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that eight years later I'd still be training dogs. What a ride.
As my eighth year as a full-time trainer comes to a close, I find myself missing the non-profit and writing work of my past. This has left me entertaining the idea of returning to the "real world" of work -- the typical nine-to-five, humans-only as clients kind of set up. While I dread the thought of consistently getting up early each morning, having nights and weekends as my own (aside from when I'd continue to teach as a hobby) is incredibly appealing. The dog trainer's schedule is, without a doubt, NOT social life or personal relationship friendly. Hard to make plans with friends and/or meet someone when you're working during the very times most people are available: nights and weekends.
Problem is, for as much as I love non-profit work, I'm also intrigued by the idea of working as a print reporter. When I first went to college, that's what I thought I wanted to do. I've always loved writing, so print journalism seemed like a good fit - until I took an Intro to Public Relations class, loved it, and decided to detour over to the world of Spin Doctoring, er, I mean public relations. Now I'm standing at the proverbial fork in the road: which path to pursue? Public relations or print journalism? And here's the rub: they're just different enough that you can't really bounce from one to the other, at least not in the direction I'm trying to go. The market is much more open to journalists-turned-publicists than it is publicists-turned-journalists. The theory is that journalists know how to write for journalists whereas, to journalists, PR people are often Spin Doctors and Hacks. (C'mon... can't we all just get along?)
This means I'll likely have to pursue entry-level opportunities as a reporter. A bit stinging to the ego, but I'm getting used to it. The bigger problem is that presently, I'm not really even marketable as an entry-level reporter because I lack a collection of general writing clips. My current freelance work has all been about dogs. Great for dog-related publications; bad for general dailies. Speaking of writing about dogs, check out my current WDJ piece on how to pick a dog trainer and the difference between a trainer and a behaviorist. (See, I can't NOT act as a publicist - even for myself. GAH!) This brings me to the current Master Plan:
I've enrolled in another semester of Los Angeles Valley College. Although it's best described in general as a high school with ash trays, it does have a journalism department and respectable campus paper. My hope is that I can generate enough broad based clips to showcase my abilities as a reporter in order to find an entry level job with a newspaper or magazine. I'm also attempting to add a variety of general knowledge classes. I feel a bit like I've spent eight years living under a rock; I stayed so involved with dogs and dog sports (as a profession, a hobby and an overall passion) that I sort of lost touch with the overall world around me. Not a good situation for an aspiring general reporter. I'm looking into classes in administration of justice, sociology and psychology. Trying to add them late in the game (school starts on Monday!) at a time when budget cuts have obliterated much of the academic offerings has left me stuck with attempting to add in person. Wish me luck.
If you read my earlier post about being a control freak, you understand how my current situation is driving me nuts! I can't stand not knowing what my next move will be. Even though I recognize that I'm taking steps toward finalizing that next move, I'm horribly impatient and really want to hurry up and get there - wherever there happens to be.
No doubt a life lesson. School is in session in more ways than one.
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