phampants - I liked the point you made about how being the youngest teacher didn’t matter. During my first work experience after college (technically and internship) I was surrounded by fun, young people. I thought that would make the job enjoyable, but it didn’t compensate for the stuff I didn’t enjoy. At my current job, there are only a few young people and I’m the only female under 40. However, I like the job so much better.

I also agree that there are going to be points in life when you’re just content. If I’m content with one aspect of my life and know I can’t change it for awhile, I try to focus my effort on personal things that I can improve. I work on learning a new computer skill, working out more, spending more time with friends, etc.

Amber - Passion is definitely important in enjoying a job and a career. I think that’s why I’ve changed my mind so many time in the past 2 years. Once graduating from college was more of a reality, I finally gave serious thought to what would make me happy. I decided not to submit my near complete law school applications, I thought I wanted to do PR, and finally I found something I really like - web development.

I also think it’s interesting to think about success at different points in life. As females, if we choose to have a family, priorities are likely to shift. Honestly, I struggle with that a bit. I’m very career driven and want a master’s degree, but sometimes I wonder if I should skip the degree and get more work experience before I have a family and my focus shifts. I want a career when I have kids, but at a slower pace so they can be a priority (like Liz said).

Right now I am determining my success based on school, how successful I do on assignments and in class etc. With only two semesters left I am also getting closer and closer to graduation and I’m starting to think about my career. I think for the first few years after I finish school I will determine my success largely by whether I’m successful in my career or not. And not just successful, but loving it. I don’t think you can truly be successful in a career you’re not passionate about.

Eventually I think I will probably determine my success based on my family. I want to have a family oneday and when I do I think I will view my level of success based on what kind of parent and wife I am. I think my career will still be important too though.

It’s interesting to think of how our definitions of success change as we change as people.

After my first year there, the school closed. I switched to another school were I was IT Director and taught computer science. I. Was. Miserable. The students were rude & spoiled. They didn’t care about learn nor did the teachers had the passion to teach like my first school. I worked 75-80 hr weeks between IT stuff and teacher. It was awful. I will admit this, the students that I personally taught, I did enjoy; they were good kids and motivated to learn. I also enjoyed teaching computer science more than theology and my kids blew me away with what they were able to do. Additionally, I won the highest teaching award of Catholic schools in Chicago at this school.

I only stayed at the school for 1 year. Now my 3rd year out of college, I’m working for an old employer as an IT field tech. This company gave me my start in the IT field and they took care of me. Though I’m not happy as I was 3 yrs ago, I’m content. Sometimes, we have to be content for a while to better grasp what we want or what we had.

In the end, happiness will come and go and so will success. What more important is that you must strive to be the best within yourself and all will come into place. Even though I’m just content now, I’m working w/ my personal self to be better so I can be truly successful and happy in the future.

I hope to someday own a business but that takes a lot of time. It’s hard to accomplish the goals you set for yourself while also having a life and time for a family. Some people sacrafice a lot for their job and if I have children, I would want them to be my first priority.

I think the best thing to do is have goals and try to achieve them, but be open to change the path you are on if you aren’t happy. There’s no need to set everything in stone.

We’ll figure it out someday.