I am not sure I have told my whole college experience and philosophy of college on this blog yet and it does seem appropriate so here goes.
As many college students go I was pretty idealistic and as many only children go I was fairly spoiled and entitled. I had never really had to work that hard for anything and courtesy of my parents my college was covered. In hindsight this was kind of a disastrous scenario and not one I would really want for my kids but hey, it’s what I had to work with.
I started out as a Geology major and my idealism and hatred for the exploitation of the earth by oil companies quickly steered me away from that avenue. I bounced around for a while and eventually settled on Geography as a focus. I still attribute National Geographic for saving my life when I was at a particularly tenuous time in my adolescence. I could get lost in the maps for hours and the magazine gave me a larger view of the world and allowed me to dream about all the places that I would like to go and see. So, despite the lack of defined career path, more about this in a second, geography seemed like a good way to go.
As far as career path goes I had decided based on watching my engineer father work a job that he never really seemed to enjoy that college was often nothing more than job training for higher level wage slaves. I elected to study my focuses in an area that would make it difficult for me to get a job that would support my expensive taste. The theory was basically that I would put myself in a situation where if I wanted to experience the finer things in life I would be forced to start a business.
I realized that this was most likely going to lead to some hardship down the road but my idealistic self was excited about the prospect. Plus, I really did enjoy the classes I was taking, the books I was reading and the professors I was rubbing elbows with. College felt right and it felt like it was unlocking those parts of the brain that can really only be accessed by higher learning. I still look back on this time with fondness and wouldn’t change my path much if any.
Fast forward nearly 10 years and my choices have put me into some interesting situations. I have floundered in the entrepreneurship world and will hopefully one day get it right. A new philosophy that has developed out of all of the people I have met in the oil patch is that all roads lead to the oilfield. I have worked with biomedical engineers, ex-cons, lazy bastards and overachievers. The only thing many of them have in common is that they didn’t really mean to wind up in the oil field but here they are. My need to put a food on my families table trumped my idealism long ago and my realization that the oil companies aren’t as bad as many people make them out to be may stick. Thus far I have been afforded a good life working in a position that I don’t really like that much but isn’t that bad and can be chalked up to a good compromise.
I still know there is better out there for my family and am actively pursuing other entrepreneurial opportunities that are more in line with who I am as a person. That is after all what this blog is about. Midlife can be one of the most difficult times for many people to start a business but it is also one of the best times. I have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is highly valuable and will help in business and in life. I have a different perspective now and a different level of hunger.
Idealist philosophies are often dismissed as not being realistic but I feel that my youthful philosophy while semi misguided and somewhat judgmental has and will continue to serve me well.