After Spring Break I had a revelation

I was kind of in the same boat you are currently in. I was trying to decide if I really wanted to go to grad school for my field of study and eventually become a professor, but the college loans made me hesitant, and then I realized I really want to do a lot of things, and eventually get married and have children. Deep down, I didn't really want to spend my life in a career that felt like it wasn't really doing anything to help the world, and I wanted flexibility to explore my interests and be able to stop and settle down to have a family when the time was right.

The best thing I did, though, was studying abroad in my last semester. I actually kind of had to do it because I needed to fulfill the foreign language requirement for my school, and I already completed all of my degree requirements. It was also cheaper for me to spend a semester in China than to spend another semester at my campus and living there. It was scary at times, but the experience was so good for me and really opened up more opportunities for me. I used to be the kind of person who was a home body and didn't stray far from home (except that awful year at a college 5+ hours away from home), but now I am ready and willing to explore the world and just get back out there. Also, my sister had taught English in South Korea for two years, so that and my experience in China have pushed me to decide to become a teacher of English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL). I currently work in a public school part-time as a monitor to pay for my student loans, but soon I will finish my TEFL certification so I can teach English overseas.

If you decide to teach English abroad - and you want to work at a *good* English school - I recommend you get certified, which you can do all online. ITTT is very good and is internationally recognized: http://www.teflonline.net/ They also will help you find jobs teaching English when you successfully complete the course. You should also check out this page to learn a bit about teaching abroad: http://www.lifeafterstudyabroad.com...r-career-overseas-by-teaching-english-abroad/ You might also be interested in Projects Abroad, which is largely volunteering: http://www.projects-abroad.org/

I think you have a lot of good ideas to think about what you'd like to do after college. If you want to avoid jumping in headfirst, I recommend that you get at least a part-time job in your town/city after college, even if it's something like flipping burgers, delivering pizzas, or being a cashier. You'll make money and you should also have time to do other things like volunteer locally, network with coworkers and bosses, talk to recruiters and do more research. If you're interested in the Red Cross, perhaps you can volunteer for them sometime or help out at a blood drive.

I will warn you, though, that if you talk to a military recruiter or submit your information to an official military website, they WILL rush you through to make you sign up and be sent away for training! I almost joined the Army at the beginning of last summer, but ultimately decided against it after I took the ASVAB test. It was literally only a week between the time I submitted my information on the Army's website asking for more information and when the recruiter was taking me to the nearby base to take the test. The next step would have been the physical examination and immediately being sworn in as a soldier. That's how fast they will try to get you in. So if you are not *absolutely sure* you want to join the military, hold off on talking to a recruiter, or at least make it very clear at the first meeting that you are not sure if you want to join - and don't let them pressure you into anything you are not 100% sure you want to do!

 

I think the most important thing is deciding what you really want to do and then going after it. Too many people do what they think that they should do because society, or their family, or someone else urges them to do it. I was in a similar situation as you in which I was living at home and raised to be fearful and cautious and to try to get into a stable work situation. I moved out after college a took a traditional path for a number of years, finally I just decided to do what I want to do and I feel great about my decision. The thing is, if you do something you really love and you work hard and learn from your mistakes, you are going to gain experience and take away tangible skills that you can use in future jobs, even if you are not in a stable company/occupation. The worst thing is to wait to live your future life by doing nonmeaningful things until some arbitrary time in the future that never comes. The fact that you had a GPA between 2.6 and 3.0 makes me wonder if you were doing something that you were really interested in. I've had similar discussions with a lot of people and while everyone says initially they don't know what they want to do, I've found that when I really listen to them and get them to lower their barriers they almost always have specific things that they want to do career-wise, but they were afraid to admit it, or were afraid to pursue it because they thought they would fail. And it does not have to be big, there is nothing wrong in wanting to work an office job, or wanting to work in a position that is considered an ordinary or undesirable job by society as long as it makes you happy.

I've traveled a bit internationally and met a lot of PeaceCorps individuals, they were all wonderful, interesting people and I think it's a great thing to do. But I wouldn't do anything for several years if you are just using it to occupy time and delay a decision of what you really want to do. Anything can be worthwhile if you are interested in it.