Back To School: Past, Present, And Future

That was an interesting look in the mirror. First, lets be clear, I am a work in progress. The challenges and experiences that brought me back to school were also a reflection of my lack of maturity, undiagnosed panic and anxiety disorder, and not feeling that I could be a capable person. Glimpses into happier days provided me impetus to step back and try again. So now I am an adult student, single, and working part time reaching for a goal and keeping a promise. But I would be remiss not to admit that I am probably living like I should have when I was 21. But that is the past, lets talk about today and tomorrow. Way back when in middle school, I visited a school friend and both of his parents were psychologists. They were very nice …show more content…
It was an even split between living expenses and things I enjoy in life – friends, computers, and popular culture. My family is very important and I spend time with them but not money. The co-mingling of friends and popular culture seems pretty symbolic to me. Finding friends who enjoy my sense of humor and interests in comic books, wrestling, Riff Trax comedy, and the like is pretty specific. I value both the friends and the experiences we share, and that requires an investment of time and money. While this may adjust in the future, based on family and job, I don’t think it will ever be totally replaced. My time-sharing is fairly equal between school, work, and people and things I enjoy. And again, to my surprise my family is not as high on the list in …show more content…
As an adult it is important to step back and look at your behaviors and see how they align with your values. As a child I was adamant about having the newest game systems and games and there came a point in time when my ‘collection’ was just that. It gave me no current pleasure and there were places I wanted to travel to. My values had changed from ‘having’ to ‘experiencing’ and I sold the whole of it and took a road trip. For me values, beyond those instilled by family, took a curve when I used collecting as a definition of self-worth. Time, experience, and education have influenced me to take a step back and rethink my values of the past. I would also expect that finding a full time job in a career that I choose will not only offset the focus on education, but will also result in adjustments of time, money, and values. In the future I would like to add travel and life experiences in the ‘what matters most’ column. In order to do this a full time position would be necessary. As I look to my future I hope to be attentive to valuing people, relationships, and human traits of honesty, truthfulness and the like. I want to live well and care for my family but I want balance in time, money, and value. And if as Shalom H. Schwartz says that values are hierarchical I want my highest values to always include people I care