Picture Perfect

Kindergarten, 6 years of primary school and 7 years of grammar school education, 1 year abroad studying theology and now going to a prestigious university studying law. In all, 17 years of full-time education by the time I'm done with university. What do I want to do with it? Any of the following:

1) Become a smallholder. Now that's the dream. I'll buy me a few acres of land in the country, build me a lil' house'o'wood and get some goats, hens, horses and other such things. 

2)  Become a plumber. These fellows are in demand big-time and make a decent living. There's also something far more satisfying in doing work with your hands than sitting at a computer all day.

2) Become an electrician. If I did this, I would be following in the footsteps of my grandfather, who was also an electrician (interestingly, my grandad on the other side of my family graduated from an English university as a civil engineer).  The same reasons as the above.

2) Become a journalist. As you can see, this too holds joint second place. I'm just torn, people, entirely torn. Journalism is great and if you're with the right people, gives you the chance to influence thins politically, socially and culturally without being a celebrity or politician. Having left-wing tendancies, I'm all for the simple life and power does not appeal to me so much, despite my frequent claims to world domination - and so this position is great. I include this in the catagory of 'writer' and I may already have an idea or two on the shelf...

3+4) Advertising/PR or Sales. This is great and up until recently I had the idea in my head that I was going to intern a massive company during the summer. Unfortunately, despite saying they did, they didn't have any advertising/sales/PR positions - they had loads which included an engineering degree, something I don't have, but oh well.

5) Law. You must be wondering why this is so low on the list, especially considering my university education. I first thought I wanted to be a lawyer since I was 17, but even then I lamented this fate. Don't get me wrong, law is a great subject to study (though parts will bore you to death, as with anything) but to practise? I don't know.

The main thing that bothers me about law is the amount of work and the amount of hours. The next thing which bothers me, once coming to terms with that, are any morally-grey positions you're presented with in the course of the job. Obviously, the practise of law is not exactly like on TV, so no great-looking blonde women accused of multiple homicides turn up to a small hovel of a law firm who happen to have an amazingly bright law-student interning there, who uncovers an entire scam to frame this poor woman who has been robbed of many riches, who ultimately did kill her husband but not the 12 people with him, although she has a fling with the law student who gets her acquitted of all charges afterwhich she disappears with an appropriately large sum of money, never to be heard from again - except in a single letter directing the law student to a small pot of cash burried in a field somewhere to thank him for his untiring work which, though misdirected, got her acquitted.

No, none of that.

Whatever I do, I hope it'll lead to dream number one, being the owner of a reasonably productive smallholding. On this land I'll have a lake with a nice forest area, in absence of this forest area I shall plant it around part of the lake. This goes back to my very first post, written around three-and-a-half years ago, stating:

        "seeing as the only reason I pursue education is to be able to provide sustenance for myself and one day, I hope, a wife and children, I may as well ditch education here and now, find my "one true love," elope to a far away forest, live on nothing but sludge and grass roots, and write poetry on the sad condition of the human race."

Could I ever realise this dream, minus sludge and grass roots? The best thing about it all is Cat's up for this, minus sludge and grass roots...

Who knows? I'll let you know as my life develops!