Just thoughts...

So I'm sitting in my red leather chair relaxing on a Friday night and I thought I'd post something on my obscure blog site that nobody will read. What will I post? Well, I guess just some thoughts that are rattling around in my thoughtosphere.

The most pressing thoughts I currently have are related to my new educational goals which lead to my new career goals. I'm dramatically changing what "I want to be when I grow up" and sort of taking a leap of faith into something new.

I guess there are times in your life when you fantasize about being completely out of the box you've built for yourself. About doing something that would make your friends and family look at you with a funny look on your face and say, "Brandon is going to do what?!". Most of the time these things just stay in fantasy land and you go back to reality. Well, I've fantasized about being outside the grey walls of my cubicle for a while now. Of living in a world apart from e-mail, Microsoft Project, development timelines, business requirements, pricing, contracts... you get the idea. I've thought how great it would be to do something that ultimately is not (or at least shouldn't be) driven by the mighty dollar.

I then began to ask myself, "Why can't I go after this dream? What's ultimately stopping me?" Well, not much, except my comfort zone.

So yeah, I have a BS in Finance from Oklahoma State University, a flexible job making pretty good money for a 27 year old (and 4 weeks of vacation a year) and I'm going back to school. I haven't done anything irreversible yet, but I have started some classes. I'm taking Biology and re-taking Comp 1 this semester at TCC and plan on applying to Rogers State University for the Fall 2010... Nursing program. Yes, I said Nursing. I'm going to be a Registered Nurse (I am secure in my manhood. I am secure in my manhood. I am.) Then I plan on getting a Master of Nurse Anesthesia and becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. It's a long road ahead, about six years long, hopefully no longer, so we shall see how this all works out.

I'm excited about this change of direction. I feel rejuvenated just taking a Biology class. I can't wait to reach the various milestones on this journey: acceptance into nursing school, RN license, hospital experience, etc. As a Project Manager I often help my company's owners and stakeholders make a profit. Woo hoo. As an RN and as a CRNA I will help people have a better quality of life. Now I'm careful to not sensationalize the medical field too much. There are definitely major deficiencies in the healthcare system and there will be tough times, undesirable tasks and times I may long for the simplicity of the cubicle. However, at the end of day, regardless of who's administering or paying for healthcare (Obama, insurance companies, or the People's Republic of China), helping human lives is still the end result.