I am in a very similar position as the writer. I’m 29 and also feel I have “let my career path be pulled by the ebbs and flows of day to day life. I took the path of least resistance. Instead of creating my life, I let it be created for me.” And I too am just now trying to find the “real me” and make really well thought out career choices.

However, I think the writer is being way to hard on herself! You know they say 30 is the new 20! You have plenty of time to find a career you find fulfilling. And don’t think of the past 10 years as a waste, every choice you made has gotten you to where you are today. And yes, comparing yourself to others will only leave you feeling like you are not enough in someway, so just try not to do it!

And you can always start a new path, at 18 or 80!

And for the people saying you can’t make a living doing what you love, you totally can! But only if you love something to the point of insanity! (or love doing something in the medical or financial field, haha). Having your own small business in a creative field (graphic design or freelance writing), or a restaurant or something like that is never going to be easy, its going to be hard, a lot harder than working some 9-5er. But if you love it, truly love it (and are good at it) it can be so much more fulfilling! You are going to put in 60-80 hour weeks (or more) and you are going to make mistakes but if you have an extreme passion you will succeed. And they will be your 60-80 hours your way! Its not easy making a living doing what you love, but nothing worth doing is easy right?!

I can’t help relating the post to Anne-Marie Slaughter’s recent “Women Still Can’t Have it All” article – I wonder if Elizabeth felt at some point that “gee, my current career goals aren’t really panning out and I don’t know what else to do, guess I’ll concentrate more on family right now”. I’m having this thought process and feeling a bit guilty about it, but still fortunate to be in a position to have that choice in the first place.

All that said, if this was the same type of article coming from someone in a different place in life than myself, I probably wouldn’t have been that interested. I’m navel-gazing like that too.

I’ve noticed a big difference between the mags from the two schools I attended. One seems to be celebrity and status driven, while the other focusses more on innovations and inventions. Not surprisingly, one school is riding on its reputation and the other is seeking funding from big companies (esp. tech companies.)

Just kidding. Agree with Tyler K. that you should just unsubscribe from the alumni mag. or just throw it in the recycling. I get the alumni magazine and it always goes straight into the recycling bin. I already know what my good friends from school are up to and I do not need to read about the strangers.

This is a fine anecdote to share with a friend or on a personal blog, but I fail to see how this is a feature story in the journalistic sense of the word.

I’m working on my 3rd degree, my 2nd career, and I strongly feel this won’t be my last. I’m 38…

However, I still have my degree, from a very good school, and that alone has helped me get job interviews I may not have otherwise gotten. And, while my dreams of becoming a physics PhD and working on problems in theoretical physics involving time travel (this is what happens when you watch Doctor Who as a tween) never became reality, I still have a rewarding job and turned out ok. Other than my mom’s temporary dismay over what on earth I was going to do with a sociology degree, my parents never felt that I wasted my college years.

One Easter Sunday several years ago, my single brother called me from his home in San Diego. As I looked into a depressing late-March snow storm in New England, he told me how lucky he thought I was. “You have it all, great wife, great kids”. I looked at the mess of candy wrappers on the floor and asked him what his plans for the day were.

“I’ll probably go to a nice place for dinner after I go to the beach in the morning.”

The grass is always greener…..

I don’t mean in a spiritual sense necessarily (I’m not spiritual at all – at least I think I’m not) – just like it’s a waste of time.

Why? Because you’re probably wrong about what they think anyway.

The only person you need to satisfy when it comes to career choices is yourself.

Once you justify what you’re doing to yourself you can answer anybody and you should be doing so with absolute confidence.

Who is to say what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ anyway?

As someone who had a very successful career (at least defined by the usual criteria) and gave it all up to live a more modest life in the countryside, I can honestly say I am much prouder of the more modest version of my life than the big salary etc.

Your life – your choice… don’t let anybody tell you different.

I too grew up in Southern California and got my start as a designer working in the skateboarding industry. Art, painting, design have always been lifelong passions for me. During this time I went on to Business school to have something to fall back on should things dry up in the design industry. Throughout business school I maintained my own clothing business, doing the designing and screen printing out of my 1 bedroom apartment. I also built my own ecommerce site for the clothing line. I was selling clothing worldwide, but not achieving a comfortable living wage to do this exclusively like I had dreamed.

In 2005 I moved to Seattle, WA. There is an incredible demand for talented graphic designers in this area. Of course your expertise has to be in web and mobile and not print to find steady work. Shortly after moving up to the area I landed a web design job with a major US company and as a result my salary increased dramatically from what I was used to. From this point on I established my own freelance design business and now clear over 6 figures a year in salary. To say that choosing to be a graphic designer is a deadly career move has not been the case with me. It’s been a dream job. I make my own schedule, work when I want to and travel when I want to. It’s not all perfect, the deadlines can be absolutely killer sometimes, and the work very difficult.

I would like to conclude that BD was correct in saying there are millions of designers out there. Most of which are mediocre at best. To be great in this business you have to maintain the passion and work on your craft constantly. Then again, if you love what you do this doesn’t feel like a choir. Hard work will get you to where you want to be. Thanks for sharing your story.

I don’t see where the “sense of complete and utter failure” would come from or why anyone would be worrying “Did I Let My Alma Mater Down?”

Where is the failure? Not getting into your alumni magazine isn’t failure. Not being a giant success before hitting 30 is not a failure. Is the author unemployed? Is she working a part time retail job? I don’t see the failure. In fact I see someone with a graduate degree and apparently gainfully employed in their field. Its hard to feel sympathy for or identify with someone who seems to be doing better than 95% of people her age and then bemoaning her imagined failure cause she isn’t yet featured in the Duke almuni magazine.

Believe me, nobody finds work where ALL of their skills and strengths are utilized at one time – that’s what hobbies and life – and time – are for.

P.S. What’s so bad about having multiple careers? Husband and I have gone through at least three each. My original degrees were English and Speech; his in Mechanical and Civil Engineering.
Even when we weren’t working directly in those fields, having the degrees often got our foot in the door. They’ve also been helpful in surprising ways. (Husband just got a technical promotion in part because of those degrees.)
Life is too short. Time to get on with it, and decide what you’d really like to do next. And who cares what the alumni magazine says…

I wish you the best of luck in your career path, and I hope that whatever new career you get, you are successful and can find a great job!