as part of my packet to get approved to do research in my agency, i must create a cv so they can see what i've done. i checked out a couple of my professors cvs as a model. how extensive they were, with teaching and panels and presentations and tenures at prestigious institutes. then i set out to work on mine, and i started to get depressed. what, in my years on this earth, have i done? hardly anything but to survive, i thought. then i thought how we are not supposed to compare ourselves with ourselves. my journey to becoming is just as remarkable as those stellar accomplishments i saw. my experience is a roadmap of true blessing, and simultaneously a cemetery of bad decisions as evidenced by the death, burial and resurrection of dreams. for example i held two jobs - one at a durable medical equipment sales and rental place, and roto rooter as an overnight dispatcher. i would make a palette on the floor with blankets and sleep there to field calls for service. in the morning, I would roll up my stuff, walk home, shower, and go to my day job.
i thought about omitting those less than glamorous jobs and only showing the more, um, respectful jobs i held. then i said why the heck should i do that? it is part of who i am and the struggle to get here and to stay here. so, mc donald's and bowers and the radio station and roto rooter will stay. still, part of me would really like to look a little more glam on paper...
