The Road Not Taken

Like everyone (I imagine), I considered a lot of career paths before eventually settling on the one I am currently on. Although I do enjoy editing (my chosen path), I also think back on the many careers I didn't choose and wonder "what if." Here now is a short list of those might-have-beens....

• Lawyer: I think this is the one I think about the most. I even still toy with the idea of going to law school someday. I'm confident I would have been a good one, and I think I would enjoy it, but it would have been hard to find a good work-life balance.
• Doctor: Haven't really thought about this one since I was a little kid, but I still remember the skeleton I drew in elementary school. I'm certainly no artist, but the skeleton wasn't half bad, I believe because I had such passion for it.
• Veterinarian: Similar to doctor, but a slightly more recent idea. I was probably in my late teens when I was considering it. I do love animals, but I was too intimidated by how competitive vet schools are.
• Anthropology/linguistics professor: This was in the running all the way through college. I love the idea of teaching those subjects, but just wouldn't be able to stomach the political craziness that goes along with an academic career.
• Forensic anthropologist: Not completely separate from the professor, which is a big part of why I didn't travel this route. I lovelovelove forensic anthropology. I wonder how my life might have been different if the best graduate program in the country hadn't been in Tennessee. Alas, I'll never know.
• Speech/language pathologist: When I was having something of a career crisis a couple of years ago, it just so happened that the Elder Child was in speech therapy, and I found the work that his SLP did completely fascinating. It was a lovely combination of linguistics and medicine. However, it required a specialized master's degree, which, in turn, would have required some specialized undergrad work, and that just wasn't worth it to me.
• Librarian: My mother used to call me "Marian," after the librarian in Music Man. This is another career I still think about, and I even consider going back to school for an MLIS degree. It's the perfect career to satisfy my passion for research, but unfortunately, jobs in library science don't pay anything like what I'm used to earning, and I'm not prepared to lower our family income so much.

I'm sure I'm omitting some of the professions that I've knocked around in my brain, but I think those are the main ones that cause me to wonder. Thankfully, I do love editing, and I'm very good at it, so while I might have my wistful moments, for the most part, they aren't painful regrets.

Still...I'd make a hell of a bone detective.