Welcome to The Unexpected Scholar!

10/4/2009: 

So I'll be honest, I'm not really a scholar of anything. I actually got the title from my friend Renee who started calling me "her little scholar" when I decided to go back to school and get my Masters in Creative Writing. I looked up the formal definition of the word. 

Scholar: 

1 : a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher : pupil
2 : a person who has done advanced study in a special field 
3 : a holder of a scholarship

So I guess by definition of 1 & 2 I am technically considered a scholar, who knew? While I won't claim to be an expert on the subject of writing, I will label myself a dreamer. In my journey towards continuing my education I've discovered there are a lot more of us dreamers out there than I thought. Those of us who refuse to believe that a steady paycheck from corporate America once every two weeks is all we need to be satisfied in life. 

Perhaps this was the way of our parents generation, but not ours. Networking and the invention of the world wide web have taught us that thinking outside the box is where true happiness resides. Or so we hope. In thinking about this I've found that the first step to obtaining this state of bliss is to admit you're unhappy, and then do something about it. 

It's amazing how many people you will find that share the same crazy unimaginable dreams that you sheepishly cling to. I have a friend who wants to be a movie writer-director-producer, one who wants to make documentary films and another who just simply wants to "make pretty things". This is truly a comfort to me on the all too frequent occasion when I tell people that I'm getting my Master's in Creative Writing, at which point they stare at me with a blank expression for several minutes before inevitably asking what the hell I'm going to do with a degree in Creative Writing. The answer seems rather obvious to me but I can't tell you the countless times I've received that question. 

Okay, so maybe it is a fair question. Remember, not everyone thinks like we do. It's a good thing too, because if they did we wouldn't be able to appeal to the masses who can't think for themselves and need our creative minds to help them see outside of the box. Or the cube in most cases. Now I'm not knocking everyone who works in a cubical. Sadly I am one of the unfortunate souls trapped between 3 and a half walls 5 days a week. Most of us are. I'm simply suggesting that we ask ourselves why? 

What's the purpose of this blog, you're wondering? Well who said there was one? I guess it's in the eye of the beholder, as most things in life are, but I'm turning 25 this month and  am at a point in my life where I feel things beginning to turn, to change. I see this in a lot of us in our mid-twenties, as we are forced to let go of our college days for good and give in to what everyone calls "the real world", whatever that means. 

And well, we're always hearing about mid life crisis' but what about a quarter-life crisis? Because this is a very real thing that really just doesn't get enough attention. Especially with our generation who tends to play a little harder and longer than our parents did. (most of them anyway). When is it time to say goodbye to the bar scene and prepare to start playing house?

Until next time, I'll leave you to contemplate that question.