Man to Man #3 | The Art of Manliness
6:49
What do you do if you don't want a career in the area you majored in while in college? How do you go from being a librarian to a farmer? Find out in this week's episode of Man to Man.
Tags: manliness men career
Added: 2 years ago
From: artofmanliness
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[scene opens with a young man speaking directly to the camera]
BRETT MCKAY: So let's get to this week's question for Man to Man ... Uh, this week's question comes from Mark Nelson, and Mark writes "Brett, you're gonna think I'm crazy here, but I need some advice man to man. I'm a student, working toward a degree in library science, and I've nearly reached the end of the college run. It'll be good to be done, I admit. The thing is, though, as the big day draws closer with its attendant cap and gown, I've come to the realization that, well, I don't actually want to be a librarian. As a matter of fact, I don't even want to be an information specialist. I don't quite know how I came this far without having this realization, but I did. I think denial had something to do with it."
[he furrows his brow]
BRETT MCKAY: "What do I want to do? I want to run my own small farm, and run it as a traditional farm ... uh, more like organic and sustainable farming. I also wanna do some basic sustainable lumber work during the farming off-season. Am I utterly off my rocker?"
[he clicks a button on his computer]
BRETT MCKAY: Well Mark, you're not utterly off your rocker. I think it's great that you have a passion, this dream that you wanna pursue, and I know there's a lotta men out there who are in the same boat as you. They went to college, uh, they spent four years studying a major, thinking that's what they wanna do for a career. They graduate, start that career, and realize that's not what they wanna spend the rest of their life doing. Uh, so they go on to do other things.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: So don't feel bad about that, it's a pretty common experience for a lot of young people ... Um, here's my suggestion for you. I don't know if you have any experience yet farming, if you've done any of that, or even lumbering.
[he looks up]
BRETT MCKAY: Um, so I wouldn't drop everything and just buy your plot of land right off the bat and start farming, because you don't even know if you're gonna like it. Uh, what I would recommend doing is taking a year or two, and getting some experience with farming and lumbering to see if it's something you really wanna spend the rest of your life doing.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Because farming, from what I understand, is a lifestyle. It's not something you just do nine-to-five, uh, and take y'know, weekends off. It's twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, uh, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Uh, so you have to be really committed to it.
[he sniffs]
BRETT MCKAY: So here are my suggestions for you to get some experience. Um, the first thing you can do is just look for farms in the area, or in the country, who are doing the type of farming that you wanna do. I know there's a lotta small sustainable farms. Give 'em a call, send them a letter saying "I'd like to do this someday too, can I come work for you, y'know, during the harvest season?"
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Um, and go work for them. Probably not gonna get paid very much, but you're gonna get that experience to see if it's something you really wanna spend the rest of your life doing.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: The same with lumbering. Um, find some lumbering companies that are doing the type of lumbering that you wanna do, that's sustainable lumbering, and see if you can work for them for a season. Uh, another option that I'd recommend doing, to get that experience with sustainable farming, is signing up for Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. These are volunteer organizations that are funded by, in part by the US government.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Uh, Peace Corps is for international service, and AmeriCorps is for domestic. I know for a fact that both organizations have programs that are geared towards sustainable farming. I know, uh, AmeriCorps here in the United States has programs with the US Forest Service that do things with sustainable farming and conservation.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Uh, what's really great about these things is you can sign up and it's like a year or two year commitment. If you do Peace Corps, maybe you might go off to Africa and, y'know, teach people there how to do sustainable farming in Africa.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: You're gonna learn about farming, you're gonna get that experience, see if it's something you're really passionate about ... while you're doing good at the same time. You're helping and making the world a better place.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Uh, another benefit of AmeriCorps or Peace Corps is that after you're done, um, you'll get scholarship. You'll be eligible for scholarship money that you can use to pay back your student debt. This is what my wife did when she graduated college, she did AmeriCorps for about a year and a half, and she got some ... y'know, a substantial amount of money that she was able to use to pay back her student loans, which was really great.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: That's another benefit. Um, and the other benefit too is that if you go to ... if you do AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and you do the farming thing, and you decide this is not what you wanna do, and you wanna go back to library sciences or some other thing, you're gonna have this amazing thing on your resume.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Um, employers are always really impressed when young people do Peace Corps or AmeriCorps. You're not gonna have a gap in your resume, uh, if ... y'know, you might've had if you'd done something else.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: So you're gonna have something really impressive on your resume, that ... it'll look good and help you in other job options.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: So those are my two job recommendations, either go work for a farm on your own or volunteer with Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. I would, if it were me, I would lean towards AmeriCorps/Peace Corps because it's just, uh ... I dunno, it's just a great opportunity.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: Uh, so that's my advice. So I'm gonna turn the time over to you all, the readers and the viewers of The Art of Manliness. Wadda you guys think? What should Mark do? Um, is Mark off his rocker?
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: What recommendations do you have for him? And I'd also love to hear if you have stories, uh, where you went to college and you spent four years studying something, and then you just decided to change ... shift gears and do another career? Uh, like in a completely different direction. Uh, because I love to hear those stories. I know they'd be inspiring to Mark, and maybe some other guys out there who are in the same boat.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: So that's it for this week's edition of The ... For Of Man to Man with The Art of Manliness. If you have a question you'd like answered on Man to Man, you can email me at brett at artofmanliness dot com and I'll try to answer that.
[he waves his hands]
BRETT MCKAY: And until next time, this is Brett McKay from The Art of Manliness telling you to stay manly.
---
From artofmanliness.com:
Man to Man Episode #3: Should I Change My Career Path?
by Brett on November 7, 2010
Welcome back to another episode of Man to Man. This week's question comes from Mark. He writes:
"You're going to think I'm crazy here, Brett, but I need some advice - man to man.
I'm a student, working toward a degree in library science, and I've nearly reached the end of the college run. It'll be good to be done, I admit. The thing is, though, as the big day draws closer with its attendant cap and gown, I've come to the realization that, well, I don't actually want to be a librarian. As a matter of fact, I don't even want to be an "information specialist." I don't quite know how I came this far without having this realization, but I did. I think denial has something to do with it.
What do I want to do? I want to own a small farm, and run it as a traditional farm, rather than an agribusiness one. Think more along the lines of organic sustainable farming. I also want to do some basic sustainable lumber work during the farming off-season.
Am I utterly off my rocker?"
What Do You Think?
Alright, its your turn. What advice do you have for Mark? Are you a man who went through college only to figure out you didn't want to spend your career working in what you majored in? How did you make the leap to something different?
Please keep your comments uplifting and edifying. I want Man to Man to be a forum where men can feel safe asking and answering these questions.
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