So, What is Next?

So, now I have checked off some huge "To-Do's"...What am I going to do with myself now? I am going to attend Graduate School. Why? Because it is there.

1. I am going to attend Graduate school because I believe that is who I am: I am that level of student. Some people coast by in school, hating every second and wanting to do the bare minimum. Over the last several years, I have beene the kind of student who absorbs as much of the material as possible, attempts to make connections and synergize information, create new ideas based on current understanding, and communicate my knowledge and opinions about the material in an organized, informative manner. Also, it usually means higher salary at some point in your career. Finally, it will expose me to people and ideas that I would not normally encounter, broadening my experience and deepening my understanding of the world around me.

2. I am continuing my study of the Russian language. This will help me later when I begin my International Graduate Studies. It will open new opportunities for me. It will broaden the experience of my kids because as I learn Russian, they learn some too. Most of all, there are many who say that bi-linguality increases a person's ability to consider ideas and find creative solutions due to the billions of additional circuits your brain has to wire for the additional languages. As an added bonus, aren't bi-lingual people more interesting? How cool would it be to sit on a crowded bus and converse with your son in a language that probably no one else around you understands?

3. I am going to be more charitable with my time and money. Especially with my time. I am looking for a great volunteer opportunity. I want to spend at least a few hours per month doing something that makes this world a better place. I have a lot of different skills and interests, and I want to make my time count, so I am moving slowly on this one. I want to find one charity that I believe so strongly in that I can not only focus extra cash and time on it, but I can tell oither people why they, too, should consider giving to the charity. Stay tuned, I will be announcing my choice soon.

My reason for charity is totally selfish. First of all, I am a karma junkie. I cannot send out enough good karma because I want as much good karma as possible coming back to me. Second, that warm, fuzzy feeling after doing something good is like crack. I plan on staying high as a kite on that warm, fuzzy feeling. (Queue the music: "Hooked on Feeling")Finally, aren't charitable people more interesting? If I meet someone new and tell them that I speak Russian and spend some Saturdays as a volunteer, I will be so interesting that I won't have to hear about their favorite TV show or their "gifted" grandson.

4. I will run a Marathon. I have wanted to for some time. I was signed up to run the Honolulu Marathon one year, but I was too hung over that morning to even get off the floor and put my shoes on. More on the Marathon later. Suffice it to say, I am heading off a mid-life crisis at the pass by establishing some accomplishments. Besides, aren't marathon runners more interesting? No, I guess their not, but they are respectable in a weird way. I want people to look at me like I'm crazy as I proudly trod past them in my black spandex pants and $200 shoes...in the snow...at 6 am.