A week ago, I had brunch at my friend Krisi’s house. She has five children, and the meal itself was appropriately and delightfully chaotic. When we had finished, and most of the kids had scattered, Krisi asked about my post-SCAD plans. I told her that I’m not sure yet and that I feel like I could go in any number of directions. Her nine-year-old, Betsy, was playing at the sandbox nearby. She turned to me and with great aplomb declared, “I think you should go west.”
This was particularly prophetic, since after brunch, I drove 300 miles west to Seattle and Tacoma, where I spent the rest of the week visiting friends from college. I hadn’t seen most of these folks for a year, and while we’ve been in contact through email or the phone, we had a lot of laughing and hugging and general catching up to do. At some point or another, most people asked me the same question Krisi did: Come graduation in November, what will I be doing?
I don’t mind the question. After all, it’s one I’ve been asking myself in varying degrees of specificity since I started at Hollins and SCAD. And of course, with any question that affects your life in a major way, many other sub-questions immediately follow. I’ve been telling people (including myself) that I want to teach at the college level. And I do, among other things. But should I teach Art or English? I’ll have my Art degree before my English one, so it would make sense to go that route. But English sometimes seems a better fit for me. Everyone knows how difficult the job market is right now. It’s hardly likely that a four-year liberal arts college would be willing to hire a fresh graduate with virtually no teaching or professional experience. So perhaps I should be aiming elsewhere: community colleges, private schools (which don’t always require teaching degrees), international schools. And then there are days (or, if I’m honest, minutes) when I think that all I want to do is move back to South Africa and help kids learn to read. So many possible directions: all tremendous opportunities, but how do I choose?
Betsy’s answer seems the simplest option: just go west. And spending a month back in the Northwest has reminded me yet again why I love this corner of the country so much. It’s fantastically beautiful.
By Priest Lake, in Idaho
A sailboat on the lake (obviously)
A Priest Lake butterfly
Moon rise at Priest LakeAnd so much of life exists outdoors, in the middle of all this beauty, whether you’re hiking up a mountain,
My mom picking huckleberriesor going on a kayak ride on a lake,
My dad on a morning kayak ride at Priestor just eating dinner in the backyard. While I’ve enjoyed almost all the southerners I’ve met over the last few years, and I occasionally find myself tempted to say “y’all,” I know I’m a Northwest girl at heart.
A tractor at the end of a driveway near Spokane
Wheat fields near Spokane
More wheat -- we have a lot of wheat
How cool would it be to live there? Except you probably have to get up really early to admire the sunrise and harvest wheat and things.
In Pullman, Washington.My friend Mackenzie's apartment complex looks out over this!
Sullivan Lake is my family's favorite lake to visit in the summer with our friends, the Storms
My friend Corinne introduced me to Lincoln Park in Seattle,which has great views of the Puget Sound
For me, walking is one of the best ways to keep myself afloat when questions bog me down. There’s something about physically moving around in a beautiful place that both releases and grounds my thinking. So during some down time, I went for a walk in my favorite north Tacoma neighborhood, which I frequented regularly in college. Secluded from busier streets and the noise of traffic, East Road sneaks back into a wooded area. Large houses, full of personality, sit back from the road. Over the years, I think I’ve managed to choose a good possible studio in each one. After a little while, East Road loops around and turns into North Road as the forest opens up onto a gorgeous view of the Puget Sound. As you continue on, North becomes West, and eventually, you exit the neighborhood at almost the same point you entered it, though now you are facing the opposite direction.
My senior year of college, I applied for a Fulbright grant which I hoped would take me to South Africa. When I learned that I didn’t get the grant, and therefore had to find a different way to go there, my first response was to go to the East-West neighborhood. The thing about going in a circle is that it turns you around. It was good to be turned around again last week, as I found myself at a similar life juncture.
Krisi and I told Betsy that if you keep going west, sooner or later, you end up in the east. Again, her response was succinct, and more percipient than she’d probably intended: “So what?” So what, indeed. Thankfully, this world of ours isn’t flat, and so as the threads of our lives wind around whatever part of the globe we frequent, we’re able to return to the places and people we love.
And this week, I went east. On Wednesday evening, I arrived in Savannah for my last quarter at SCAD, and I’m both excited to be back, and to see what lies in store for me next. I expect I’ll be taking a lot of walks in the next few months, and since I go farther the harder I’m thinking, it’s very possible that I might wander into your neighborhood sometime. If you happen to catch sight of a pensive, blonde girl meandering down the street, feel free to shout out a greeting and any directions you think might be useful.
Have a good week,
Sarah/Mouse
