Did you always know what you wanted to become?

I didn’t. After two full years in college, the first one as a math major and the second as a business major, I dropped out. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to be, and without an intended major, Practical Jean figured tuition money was being wasted along with precious time.

After dropping out, I got married, but it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. By that time, we’d dated for a year and had been engaged for another. The wedding was planned. Of course, it was! The only difference was that I wasn’t going to be a full-time student during the day and waiting tables at night, during our first two years of marriage.

There is Always so Much to Learn

It’s hard to believe that we got married just four days after I turned 20. Compared to today’s standards, I was still a wee bairn. Like most twenty-year-olds, I thought I knew pretty much everything I needed to, but my goodness, there was still so much to learn.

Shortly after we returned from our honeymoon, Practical Jean used the math skills from her journey down the easy path, to work as a teller at a local bank that had thirteen local branch offices. In the beginning, the company floated me from branch to branch (we’re not going to talk about my nickname - Floater), to fill in for tellers who were sick or on vacation. Eventually, I landed in one branch, where I became an assistant head teller, and during the holidays, was loaned to the bank’s main money center, which was two levels underground, beneath the main branch. Locked doors. No windows. No fresh air. No people. Fort Knox. On the rare occasion when the door to our work area buzzed open, usually for a courier, bringing money in or the Brinks truck, taking money out, the buzz echoed so loudly down the stark metal stairwell, that we quickly looked at the security camera, making sure all was safe. Why? Because every day, the deposit money from each branch was delivered to the main branch and then down to the main money center. During the holidays, when stores were busy and their deposit amounts were huge, the main money center counted, banded, and balanced millions of dollars for shipment to the federal reserve. Friends often asked if it was tempting to handle all that money. The honest answer? No. Not even a little bit. It was such a daunting responsibility that the money became unappealing. Let’s face it…if any of it went missing, everyone was a suspect. Handling black widow spiders had more allure.

Building a Resume is Important

The job, although it did have its moments of excitement, wasn’t fulfilling, but it did offer the opportunity to take what was learned in school and successfully apply it to a real-life situation. I learned a lot and gained work experience, which looked impressive on my resume because it showed that I handled responsibility and pressure well. The Strategic Chicken’s first paying job along the easy path was the first step in earning my stripes, as my dad, a staff sergeant in the US Army Air Force during WWII, used to say.

It was the easy path, but I wouldn’t change it because I learned something. What about you? If you could go back in time, what would you change? And what would you want to remain the same?

Until next time,

Jean AKA The Strategic Chicken - Making life’s journey one strategic step at a time