(F)ocus

Must. Stay. Focused.

This is why I have put off going back to school for so many years: six weeks into this ten week term, I was bored silly with my classes. Now, I've got two weeks (plus finals) to go, and each day I feel more like, "I'll never make it!" and less like, "The light is at the end of the tunnel!"

With focus like that, it's no wonder I've been afraid to commit to a career.

But I lasted five years at my last job, and that longevity tricked me into thinking I'd matured enough to make a commitment. The truth of the matter is that I was most likely just lulled into complacency. Once the sleeping beast within me awoke, I have felt nothing but impatience.

Can't. Get there. Fast enough.

Granted,  my current courses aren't terribly stimulating. Next term, I am taking a five-credit chemistry class in five weeks. It should be good and challenging ... and over before I hit my six-week threshold. It will also be an excellent predictor of how I might feel - and fare - taking classes specific to zoo animal management next fall. More so than, say, the keyboarding classes I have yet to take to fulfill my current degree. The very thought of that makes me feel like:

Doggone, that's depressing.

So why am I torturing myself? This is a step in the right direction. This degree will give me extra points on my application to the zoo animal management program I hope to start in September 2014; it's a competitive process with few openings, so I'm doing everything I can to better my application. So I take these classes. And I work at the shelter. And I volunteer at the zoo. And I think about networking, and look for training and certification opportunities, and blog ...

... and by doing these six million things, I keep my focus.