10 Years from Now

Ten years from now seems like an eternity--but then again, I am only twenty, so it is half my life (and I can't believe I'm twenty!) I am aware it will be here before I know it, though, so I want to have a general idea of where I want to be and what I want to accomplish.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I will be graduating from Clemson next December and hope to begin my Master's degree in Health Promotion and Education at Virginia Tech. I will be finished with this program by 2010, and after that my goal is to go on for my Ph.D. I haven't decided what or where I want to go for this program, but my decision will depend on where we are stationed for the Marines. I am thinking of becoming involved in health education research and working for a University. I have begun to lean towards research because I realized how much it fits my personality and lifestyle. I am a meticulous worker, and I think I would do well with the different stages of research because there is a definite need for detail! This would also give me an opportunity for flexible hours and the option to complete the majority of my work online depending on where I will be living. Ten years from now, I hope that I have a career that will mean something to me and be more than just a "paycheck." I love the Health field because there are countless ways to make a difference. The research is even rewarding because it gives an opportunity to statistically prove that health education programs are working (and even if they aren't, it provides an opportunity to improve them).

While I want to have a successful career, family is an important part of my life. In ten years I hope to have had my first child or at least be planning on having him or her. First I want to be established in a career, but in ten years hopefully I will be. I also want to be involved in a community and have a network of friends wherever I am living. By ten years, we should be finished with the Marine Corps life and settled down. Hopefully, I will have met lots of new people and made some lifetime friends while traveling the world.

I love volunteering (especially with animals), so I want to have a huge plot of land and start my own animal rescue. I want to increase foster networks to keep animals out of shelters until they find loving homes. I thought of a program called "No More Cages," which would be an online database of foster homes for domestic animals to keep them out of shelters until they find families. This database would work in collaboration with Petfinder.com (an existing website), where potential owners could search for pets without having to go to the shelters.


I'm not completely sure where I will be ten years from now, but who is? We all have to take life day by day, and be thankful for what we have : )