Day 24-- Coming to Decisions

20love have been an interesting year for me in so many ways.  Not only is it the year I’ve decided to change my life and do something that challenges me when it comes to my relationships, but I’ve also been realizing some other things about my life in general.

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be an attorney.  I wanted to be Sam McCoy on Law and Order and fight for justice!  Soon, my passion for justice morphed into me wanting to get into politics and fight for the little person, changing the lives of many people who are forgotten in our legal system.

And while all of these ideas have been my dream for the longest time—for whatever reason I am not sure these are my dreams any more.

I applied to graduate school at George Mason University in December for Public Policy.  I’m still waiting to here back from them.  I hate waiting for things like this. 

Regardless, throughout the waiting process, I’ve begun to think about a lot of things when it comes to my career.  Right now, I’m working at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dallas and have found a niche there I really enjoy.  The company is awesome to work for.  Not only do they have amazing benefits, but the chain exists in 72 different countries stretched all over the globe in exotic and historical locations. 

Recently, I’ve been doing such a baller job with my restaurant that they’ve offered me a promotion into management over the summer, and I was recently nominated to be the employee of the month for January (I’ll find out on the 27 if I make it!!)  Even cooler, the Executive Board of Members for the Club recently singled me out as a key factor in changing the way customers view my restaurant and how positively Racquets has changed.

I don’t know if it’s because this industry is in my blood since my dad is a higher up in the hotel or if it just comes naturally to me, but I know I am good at working in a hotel.  Not only good—but I rock it out.  I actually enjoy going to work every day… and I work at 6:45 in the morning most days.  How many early twenty-something’s can actually say that about their jobs?  Nothing makes me feel better than when it’s a particularly long, grueling day where people can’t stop going to eat and once you reach close time, you realized service went off without a hitch and everyone who came in received the type of service they expect from a company like the Four Seasons. 

Now continuing my education is a different story.  I know I am good at school, I proved that in my undergrad, but one thing I am not good at is standardized testing.   The LSAT, in particular.  When I took the test, I did not do anywhere near what I was expecting, and although I did not study as much as I wanted to, the people who make the test say your scores can only improve a maximum of ten points.  The LSAT made me an anxiety filled mess, and the thought of taking it again to only get the same score would cause me to reach critical anxiety level status. 

In the end, when I think about why I had the dream to become an attorney/ politician when I was in school, I wanted to do those things so I could get money to travel and see the world.  Sure, I also wanted to help people, but traveling and seeing all of the history I studied in school was something I knew I wanted to do. 

The best thing about the Four Seasons is they are located in so many parts of the world.  Once you work for the company for a year, you may put in transfer to any property they have an opening in: Cairo, Thailand, London, Australia—all these places are at my fingertips if I stay with the hotel.  Not only that, but your get free nights at any of the hotels (which increase the longer you stay with the company!) and half off on all food and beverage! I mean LOOK at the places I'll get to go!

Four Seasons Cairo

Four Seasons Thailand

Four Seasons London

Four Seasons Sydney

If I choose to continue with my education, I’d have to wait another five years before I started to make an income… But even then it probably wouldn’t be enough to travel anywhere on because of the massive amounts of loans I would have to pay for law school… Not to mention the long hours spent at work.  I want to enjoy my twenties—and the work I will continue to do beyond them—and I’m pretty certain in order to do that I need to change the path I had always laid out for myself and commit to a career in hotels rather than pursue continuing my education. 

Some people may think I am settling, and maybe I am; but the thought of getting to go anywhere I’ve read about and get paid to do something I love doing makes me so much happier than the thought of me spending the years I’m supposed to live stuck in a library.  I know I can do this hotel thing, and I know I have the ambition and drive to get into higher levels of management.  I’m a person who likes to be the best at whatever they do, and now that I’m certain I’m going to do this for my job, I am going to be the best worker the F-season’s has ever seen.

So, in order to make me happy on day 24 in 20love, I’m deciding to change my dreams and what I want out of life.