reasons to be cheerful, part 1

I'm not sure why Ian Drury and the Blockheads skipped to part three, so I'll start at 1.

1. I am feeling very blessed. I am not a religious person, so saying that is a little uncomfortable, but I have to admit that I am feeling more than a little fortunate.
I have a job I like very much.
I feel as though my work is meaningful.
I like and respect the people I work with.
I truly believe that when we do our work well, we make a difference in people's lives.

Last night I spent some time with students who could not articulate what they wanted to pursue, or what their ideal work would look like. This was more than a little dismaying to me. Perhaps I am a bit of a "rose-colored glasses" type, but life is pretty good.

It is hard for me to tell "my story" without being a bit self-conscious. I was trying to describe for these students how I did NOT want to work in a steel mill as my father, uncles, and grandfather had. I worked Summers as a Laborer, Bricklayer's Helper, and Hot Bed Inspector (greatest...job title...ever) and I knew that I could use my head, or use my back.

The work was quintessentially industrial; dirty, dark and dangerous. I almost was burned severely my first Summer when a scaffold I was working on caught fire in the Steelworks. I DID get a mild burn from hot scale while working under the soaking pits in the Blooming Mill. But maybe worst of all, the only reason I was working was for money. My work held no meaning for me beyond payday.

In sharing this with the students, I told them that I felt that my decision to work in higher education was no happy accident. I found an environment where I could; feel good about my work, like and respect my colleagues, and feel as though somehow, what I did made a difference.