Ali Tozier - Christian Science Sentinel, Oct. 1, 2007
My mind was churning as I contemplated and planned. What could I do next summer? It was only the fall of my sophomore year at Williams College, but I was already forecasting months ahead of time. I felt that if I was on the ball, I could do anything.
I’ve been told more than once that I over-think. Whether I’m behind the starting block at a swim meet or planning my major field of study, my mind is usually running like a faucet—and it can be hard to shut it off.
Roger Gordon - The Christian Science Journal, Dec. 2006
I was thrilled. I had been admitted to college at one of the top theater schools in the United States, in the conservatory’s most competitive year ever.
Freshman year I took theater classes all day long with the same group of 15 students. The program was designed so we would get to know each other intimately, and we formed a very tight knit ensemble together. In our classes and outside of them, we laughed, cried, mourned, and celebrated life together.
Adapted from the Christian Science Sentinel, May 21, 2007.
February 1995. New Hampshire state championships, cross-country skiing.
After four miles of racing neck-and-neck through forested hills and wind-swept ravines, my rival and I entered the final homestretch. She sped ahead on the last turn. I faltered. And then it was over. Three irretrievable seconds would forever stand between me and the high-school title. I kneeled in the snow, hot tears flowing down my numb cheeks.
Erin Deyerle - Adapted from the Christian Science Sentinel, April 2, 2007
Was it too late in the game? Shortly before graduating from college with an English degree, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. But without the proper education courses, I would have to take the complicated steps of getting a provisional state teaching license and then completing graduate courses and teaching requirements.
I found myself envying people who’d already mapped out their careers and were on their way. Why can’t I just feel settled like them? I thought to myself.
Chelsea Kearns - Adapted from The Christian Science Journal, February 2007.
I remember distinctly the feelings I had in my mid-20s when I felt a lot of pressure to be moving in a specific direction with a career in mind. I felt that pressure all around me. And although it was coming mostly from the outside — from some of my friends and family — much of it was also self-inflicted. I racked my brain trying to come up with a path that I was interested in pursuing. And I tried to envision myself in a lifelong career (this was particularly hard to imagine).
I prayed a lot about the situation, as much for peace of mind as for guidance. And I found a great sense of freedom in the realization that I could choose a job that I loved, or work for an organization I supported, and not necessarily have to go down a predetermined career track. As long as I let my inner moral compass, or spiritual intuition, guide my decisions, I had a right to be satisfied and at peace with my choices. We all do. (more…)
