Keeping the Doors Open

I just read a section in The World is Flat that got me thinking about my future. For the last few years I have been chasing education in graphic design with the goal of eventually starting my own firm overseas to do advertisements, commercials, and identity consulting.

Then last year's geology course wakened in me an interest in the earth and how it works. I could see myself working for the USGS doing surveys in the Cascades, hiking for a living.

In the passage I read tonight Friedman brings up the future (and really current) need for mathematicians. I have long had an interest in how numbers interact in the real world, always poring over infographics in magazines and posing questions in my head about the data I was seeing and what it means. I also have a moderate ability in mathematics, though I've probably lost a lot over the past few years away from numbers.

I guess I'm still struggling to balance my aptitude with my attitude toward a specific discipline. I know I'll have great opportunities whatever I choose, but it's still kind of daunting to think that one career could be my choice for life. I want all options to be available at any moment, no closed doors along the way. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way.