Ponderings

I have decided for myself, that I need to continue to read for leisure, and not essentially give it up during academic terms as I have done in the past. This serves multiple purposes, for starters, gives me something to help me wind down at the end of the day. My interest in mostly reading non-fiction is probably puzzling to most people, however I do thoroughly enjoy learning more about my other interest areas, which right now are primarily U.S. politics and space exploration. I love urban planning; but not so much that it should crowd out my other interests. I will need to get on top of my required readings in order to not feel guilty when I do my leisure reading. To that end, I will try to be proactive like I was this week and get on top of the weekly reading right away so that it's done and over with.

I have also realized that I am ready to join the workforce again. This won't happen for quite some time, as I am not slated to graduate until June of next year. I enjoy academia, learning and all that, however it has become clear that a career in it is not quite for me. The cost-benefit analysis certainly does not bear out pursuing a PhD in lieu of immediately re-joining the workforce once I have my MURP completed. I am getting a little tired of doing creative stuff with my finances due to my being at the mercy of slow to pay out student loans and GI Bill benefits. I welcome a regular and steady paycheck thankyouverymuch. This does not mean that I want to quit school or anything like that, it's more that it means I will be excited for the possibilities when I am on the other side.

Speaking of on the other side, I hope to put together a body of internship experiences that is both instructive and helps me build connections for future employment opportunities. The MURP program is incredibly Portland-centric, this is good and bad, good in that Portland has a solid tradition of smart planning, but bad in that there are a lot of other places that need planners then just Portland. Rather than do what some students do and primarily intern within the city, I want to get some experiences outside. I am open to living in Washington when school is over, so I think it would behoove me to get a little internship time with Clark County, the City of Vancouver, or even C-Tran. Maybe here and there I can get some experience in Bend through Annie's dad's friend in Long-Range Planning there. I could try one of the growing suburbs here like Gresham, Happy Valley, or else Clackamas County (provided they don't blow me off again). The majority of my fellow students love Portland and want to stay here, meaning that there will be fierce competition for entry level jobs. I want to differentiate myself from that and give myself more options. There is a requirement for me to get 400 hours of internship experience, some of which my GRA will count towards. I want to turn this requirement into an opportunity and in turn give myself plenty of options for when I am done with school.