Every 3 months or so the plans I make for my future change. Not long ago I thought I was going to run away to Spain. Then I thought it'd be a fine idea to take some psychology classes and then apply for an MA in Counseling at Southwestern College here in Santa Fe.
The current future plan is to go to South Africa sometime in the Winter, as it is their summer, and explore a culture much different from my own. I have family friends there. The thing is, I need to find some sort of program to attend during the day. It is still a very dangerous country, and apparently I can't just explore Capetown, as I wished.
But for now, I am staying in Santa Fe. Hopefully over the summer I will get my act together, decide what I want to attend graduate school for, and apply in the Fall. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to study because I have a lot of varying interests. I know I don't want to go straight into an MFA program in Writing--it's not recommended for fresh-out-of-undergrad writers to do so. I am going to have to wait on that. But I know I can't stay out of school for long, not because I wouldn't go back if I waited too long, but because academia is a very safe (financially and otherwise) environment to be in and I enjoy it.
It is difficult to decide on a future career at this point in my life. There are many avenues I wish to explore, but some, I realize, will just remain curiosities/ hobbies. Dance, theatre, photography and music are all in that category, sadly. But I could see myself studying psychology, or literature, or philosophy. If only I could find an amlgam program: blending literature, philosophy and creative writing. A friend suggested I look into Comparative Lit. Not something I had considered before, but may be the right program for me.
I thought, for a time, that studying philosophy (contemporary mostly, though the pre-Socratics and Socratics do interest me highly) would not be that beneficial to my future career, and would merely be an intellectual indulgence. But now, as I am reading more and applying philosophical thought to literature, I really do see how studying these philosophers more closely would benefit me as a writer, a poet specifically.
Can't quite think about these future plans yet though, as the semester is "winding"down (more like hurtling) and I must fry these fish before I can fry the bigger ones.