It is currently the week before finals, and everyone is on edge here at CMU. It's "Gentle Thursday" today, but it doesn't seem too gentle to people. I don't get it. I seem to feel very mellow today and quite calm. It's weird. The normal me would probably be freaking out about finals and studying her butt off trying to get that A; however, this semester has been different. I only have 2 real exams and on one of them is open note, so technically, I only have 1 exam. It's so weird. Apparently the Sociology professors here at CMU like take home essays and 10 point presentations more than giving scantron exams. I'm not opposed to this view at all. I actually love my professors for doing that. Oddly, I feel as if I've learned and retained more in the classes that don't have final exams than the ones that do. My Sociology Professors always tell me that they care about what we learn, and can apply to our lives rather than how much we can memorize and forget 1 hour later. I like this. If I ever become a professor in the future, I think I'll take the same approach. I wouldn't want my students studying only to forget it. I want to see what they have learned and how they can apply it to real life situations and their own lives and their future careers.
New topic. I've recently switched my career path. Multiple times. In the span of my 2 years at CMU, I have changed my mind many times. I went from wanting to be a social worker to an ultrasound technician, to a family and marriage therapist to a juvenile probation officer. Why did I change my mind so much? God has been transforming me. My interests have somewhat changed but remained the same. I have become aware that I am supposed to be using the gifts God has given me and I'm just trying to figure out how to do that exactly.
As of now, I want to be a juvenile probation officer. Why? Because I love working with adolescents and teens. I believe anyone can be rehabilitated. I believe anyone can change. Who am I to say that someone should spend the rest of their life in prison? I can't make that call. That's why I am against life in prison and the death penalty. Who am I to say that someone deserves to never be free? Who am I to say that someone deserves death? ONLY and ONLY God can make that call. We can't.
I'm not quite sure how much probation officers make, but I don't see that as the reward anyways. Communicating and working directly with troubled youth is what the Lord is calling me to do. With God, I can make a difference in these teens' lives. I can be a listening ear, and maybe the adult figure they have never known and wanted. I can be a witness. I could love on these teens and show them the Lord's love that maybe they've never seen or known of. I can lead by example.
“Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." - Hebrews 7:25
