Does anyone know the song that has a lyric that goes like this...
"It might be a quarter life crisis / Or just a stirring in my soul"?
I'll give you a hint - it has a really fun-to-play verse guitar riff. No? That doesn't help anyone?
It's by John Mayer. Any closer? Ok, fine. It's called "
Why Georgia" and it's one of my favorite songs by him. I love the beat (that's why I learned how to play it) and
I really appreciate the song's theme of realizing you're not exactly happy with your life, getting up, and changing it despite the fact that it may be scary to do so. And to be honest, despite not living in Georgia,
the song fits me so well!
A bit of bio...
For those who aren't aware, I graduated from the Honors Program at
Boston University with a
Bachelors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a
Minor in Philosophy. I love science and saw myself going into biological lab research for either drug addiction or aging. So as many science majors do,
I entered a Ph.D. program which is what brought me to CT. I really liked where I was. I made some extraordinary friendships, I was moving towards a very 'out-of-reach' goal for many people, and I was spending every day learning new cool things about the world (science has so many fun applications if you have the imagination for it). As anyone can guess, it was then that
various forms of stress set in. I worked through it for a long time, but
after two years I found myself very unhappy.
Being a perfectionist and very much the mathematical person (everything has an absolute answer, right? haha),
it was VERY difficult to admit that I may choose to change my path and leave the program. I took a month to think on it. In the end,
my best friend told me to look up "exercise physiology" so I did. He knew that I picked up triathlons over the summer, trained for and ran a half-marathon in October, had put up a goal of the Ironman and had spent the last six years studying hard science. To him, it was a no brainer! It took a bit of convincing, but he won.
As of early November, 2010,
I chose to leave my Ph.D. program. I cannot tell you how internally difficult it was to make that decision mainly because I very much disliked the idea of leaving something I had already put so much time and energy into. However, after having made the decision,
I have never regretted it. I am much happier because of it. My career goal now is to make a living out of fitness. I would love to be a professional athlete, but I'm shooting first to be a personal trainer.
So that's my story; Science to Fitness, Experiments to Triathlons, or whatever you want to call it.
Now back to the song...
I've always been a big fan of Why Georgia since I first heard it. And I think now with my switch in career focuses, the song's theme fits well with my own life.
I kind of look at this whole endeavor as either my own quarter life crisis or a strong stirring of my soul. I can't wait to see what I do when I hit my mid-life crisis. haha
Anyways, the reason I chose this as the topic for today's blog is that
as of 12:04am today, I turned 25 years of age.
Now as much as it might surprise some of you (maybe all of you), I must inform you that
I have forgotten my own birthday in the past - actually twice! So it shouldn't surprise you that I'm not one to do anything big for the day (Birthdays are just another day - why not celebrate any of the other 364 days of the year?).
However,
with all the new blog followers, I thought it would be appropriate to follow up the Celebrate! post where I recapped why I blog with a bit more background as to how I found myself doing what I blog about. I have very dramatically changed my path in life and it all started with one person asking if I'd like to give a triathlon a try (I wouldn't be able to guess where my life would be today if he had not asked me). I'm a very big advocate of the quote
"Do what you love. Love what you do." and I'm happy to have found something I truly do love.
Questions
1. Have you ever forgotten your own birthday? (I can't be the only one!)
2. What is your career?, and how did you find yourself there?
I currently work for Girls Scouts of CT, but I'm working towards becoming a personal trainer.
3. If you choose ANY career in the world, what would you be?
I'd be a professional athlete, run a show like Mythbusters (but better - they have a lot of scientific flaws), or be a professional musician.
Stay fit. Stay healthy.
