As I start transitioning out of the military and looking into the job market, I have stumbled on an age old question every employer asks a potential employee: "Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?" I have begun to think about how to answer this as I prepare for my interviews and jumped the tracks midway through as my mind twisted and turned about the idea of being on the verge of turning 36 in a decade. THIRTY-SIX!! Wow. Here is a glimpse into where the rabbit hole took me:
Where was I ten years ago in the first place?!!?!?
- I was halfway through fall semester of my sophomore year of high school
- The road was being paved towards winning the Minnesota State High School Championship in baseball in the spring
- I was dating a girl from another school even though I was head over heels for another one at my own
- My drivers license was just within reach (almost 16 a decade ago)
- I was living in Minnesota
- Slept in a bunk bed on a twin mattress in the same room as my brother
- Never heard of Mythbusters, Jersey Shore, Twilight Saga, or East Bound and Down
- My grandfather was still alive, healthy and had just spurred my interest in golf earlier that summer
- My parents were still married
- I was learning how to be a handyman from my father
- Didn't care for wine
- I was working at Wendy's as a night manager
- I would go skiing with my uncle at Welch Village every winter
- I lived and breathed sports, basketball, soccer, baseball
- I didn't have a Facebook account
- I didn't get along with my siblings, nor my parents for that matter
- I almost died in a hunting accident
- What's an iPod?
- I didn't obey curfew
- Still thought parting my hair down the middle was cool
- I didn't know April yet
- I had a full head of hair
- Never been drunk
- The only shows I could watch were Law & Order and the local news
- I had acne
- I was nieve, ignorant to the world and its ways
Where did I think I'd be in ten years, ten years ago?
- Madly in love and married
- Maybe have a kid or two
- Own my own house
- Be driving a nice car
- Have a dog
- Working as an architect designing either golf courses or buildings/houses
- Have made my father proud of me
What has transpired in the last ten years?
- 9/11
- Helped my dad build a deck and barn
- Enlisted in the military 2001, basic training in 2002, commissioned officer in 2007
- Climbed to the roof of a middle school building during a party only to have said building surrounded by squad cars
- Been engaged once
- Bought my first car, a 1988 BMW 528e
- Deployed 2008-2009
- Had my appendix removed in Brazil
- Won the Kuwait Flag Football Championship while deployed
- Began laying the groundwork for a youth camp at Round Hill in Durand, WI as an intern
- Received my BS from Gonzaga University
- Invested myself emotionally in relationships that weren't reciprocated
- Lived in five States
- Ran across Highway 100 in its entirety with Nick and AJ after AJ's brand new glasses flew off his head while looking out the car window
- Been in the back of a police squad car
- Driven 534 miles one way for a girl getting pulled over 3 times along the way
- Circumnavigated the globe in 2005 on Semester At Sea (yes, I am a shellback), visited 8 countries on 4 continents, was ship wrecked (almost died again) saw first hand what the world is really like
- Changed my first brake pads and rotors
- Thrown water balloons off a bridge onto highway traffic below
- Lost my faith, found it again
- Lived alone, still living alone
- Canada, China, Vietnam, India, Kenya, S. Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Bahamas, Grand Caymens, Honduras, Cozumel, France, Germany, Italy, Spain...where next?
- Bought a house in Williamsburg, Virginia
- Become an uncle/godfather and a brother-in-law
- Driven 140,000+ miles around the US
- Went to my first bike week in Maryland, no windscreen
- Been heart broken a few too many times
- Taken my truck to a parking lot after a snowfall and done donuts
- Have had my puppy for nearly seven years and love her to death
- Totaled my first truck, almost died yet again
- Currently have five vehicles; three motorcycles (Ninja, Ducati 848, Harley Streetbob), a car and a truck
- Have a career but looking for a new one (any ideas?)
- Everything I have I own (except my education...still paying that one off)
Ten years later, am I where I saw myself in ten years? Have I arrived at where I thought I'd be?
No, not entirely. But I wouldn't trade anything I've seen or done for the world.
So, where do I see myself in ten more years?
I've learned that I can set goals but putting my timeline on it will only lead to pressure and possible disappointment. Everything is on its way somewhere, I'm just waiting to discover the destination.
Now here I am, on the cusp of turning 26 and all that I have done and accomplished in my life to this point seems great, and it is great. I have been extremely fortunate...but who besides me can I talk to about all this with? Share all this with? The age old question employers ask potential employees has inadvertently brought up a seemingly more important question that I ask anyone reading this; "What is the point of living life without a witness?"
