Re: over 40
Sharon A. Ruck wrote:
..we are deciding what we "wanna do in life" at this time. It's the
pits to be over 40 and still not sure what you want to do- the only
constant is the gardening.
Sharon,
Don't feel too bad. I'm 44 and just "found" my calling, although I
should have known a long time ago. I'm designing gardens and landscapes.
My road to this was pretty winding, though. Not knowing what I wanted to
major in, I decided to go back and finish college when I was 34. I
started out in Early Childhood Education, and it only took one semester
before I realized that I did NOT want to teach a classroom of 30 kids. I
did some career testing and found I had an aptitude for speech pathology.
I loved the one on one with kids. Speech pathology wasn't specifically
offered at the college where I had great financial aid, so I majored in
Human Development. After the Bachelors I applied to graduate school in
speech pathology, but I had to wait a semester before I could start
classes. In the meantime I took 2 courses in horticulture, and I've been
lost (or found) ever since. I took classes for a couple years, then I
worked one spring at a landscape nursery and several people called
looking for someone to design gardens for them. No one else in town was
doing that, so I did it. My business was born, and has now expanded into
landscape design. I'm still taking classes in horticulture (and
landscape design now) at the university, but now I'm only taking those
that will help me be a better designer and plantsperson. Because I
didn't know what I wanted to do for so long, I still struggle with major
feelings of inadequacy at times, but I'm know I'm making progess.
I hope I didn't bore you with my story, but I wanted to let you know that
it's never too late to find your niche. Since gardening has been your
one constant, maybe there's a career in there for you. Good luck!
Dee LaPorte
