Lessons Learned

When I started my graduate program, I had a vision for my career: get my degree, publish research papers, become recognized in my field. Along the way, I did the clinical training required for my degree, but I remained convinced that I wanted a research career. It not only seemed interesting, but more prestigious and respected.

Well, now I have reached the final stage of formal training, a postdoctoral fellowship, and for the past few months have been questioning if the research career is what will be most meaningful and fulfilling for me. I have started to question if I would be better suited to a clinical career, or even something else.

So, today I have been reflecting on some lessons I have learned. First: picking something based on prestige and status probably means you will be in a hyper-competitive environment. This may or may not suit your personality. Second: you’ll have to work hard no matter where you are. This can be hard work with no guarantee of success or hard work with lots of tangible success. Third: putting your sense of self-worth into a career is a risky bet.

It's this last lesson that may be most applicable to the Peace Community. Perhaps your sense of self-worth is not built on your career, but on how much you are liked by others. Or how well your children do. Or any other number of things that are, on the surface good and fine and worthwhile. But ultimately, our self-worth has nothing to do with the things we produce, or how much others value us. Our self-worth—everyone’s self-worth—is innate and God-given and inalienable.

Creator, thank you for the chance to be here on this earth, exploring and creating and contributing. May we not forget the value you have placed in each of us is independent of our actions or inactions. And may we rest easy in this knowledge.

Elizabeth lives and learns in Chicago, IL. She looks forward to the next steps in her journey.