It's 6 months post-graduation, and I recently had the honor of serving as a guest alumni on a panel to Concordia's Board of Regents and Board of Trustees. Being on campus felt like it was only yesterday that I was driving away after presenting my Capstone, and wondering as I looked in my rear view mirror when the next time I would be back. And at the same time, since that moment in the rear view mirror, my world's been turned upside down by a sweet little boy named Wesley, who turned 2 months old today. As I spoke to the crowd, I talked about the value I found in my journey at Concordia through the MBA program. My journey was what I made of it, but what happened for me was a true paradigm shift.
Going forward I've looked for opportunities to use my developed skills. Many times it has appeared as though I'm trying to identify existing opportunities to insert myself. I'm looking for a fit. But just as a key won't open a lock it doesn't belong to, I have come to a crossroads. To continue seeking to fit a new mold, or perhaps, and what challenges me, is to destroy the mold altogether.
Perhaps my path isn't one modeled from current opportunities, or to be replicated from a compilation of paths that have gone before me. Perhaps- that's not who I ever was, and perhaps... just perhaps it's time to fully embrace the unknown trail.
Trailblazing is a word I feel that's loosely used. It stands for a woman who went into a "man's world", and did "surprisingly well." It's used for someone who hit some cultural standard- one that hadn't been hit in their family's lineage. Yet in all these circumstances, and those like them, there is already a forged path, and it is the kind of journeyer who breaks some chain of tradition.
What if we become true trail blazers? What if we pursue the "original thought", even if Freud would disagree? What does that mean for our jobs, our families, the story to which we pour our lives?
I'm enamoured with administration. I have a thought that for nonprofits, Development is the cover of the book, and in addition to a well done cover, the content- the organization and the strategies have got to be page turning.
My pages just keep turning... and with a baby and return to work, the plot continues to thicken. I'm excited at what lies ahead, knowing irony, surprise, and trail blazing will all be sure to come.
