U.P.

As my internship at SamTrans comes to an end, I'm surprised I didn't feel much more of a sense of nostalgia as I left my cubicle for the last time, shook hands with my internship boss, and turned in my badge. It started off with the right amount of excitement, and was full of some fun times throughout, but as I boarded the CalTrain for the last time I probably ever would in San Carlos, I turned around and never looked back.

What happened? I had an internship in the field I always raved about. I was getting hands on real life experience in the position I dreamed I would be in. I was following the path of a fellow classmate who sidestepped and delayed getting a master's in and was on my way to becoming a transportation planner. I was offered a job that would have extended my time at SamTrans, effectively getting a little more than my foot in that door.

But I turned it all away. Why?

Somewhere amidst all the community meetings and panderings to city councils and state representatives, the bureaucratic nature of attempting to get anything done in the public sector and the alphabet soup of organizations and terms I still had yet to learn (we worked on the GBI and CWTP and collaborated with MTC, ABAG and C/CAG!), I realized that urban planning was much more interesting in study. The same didn't necessarily bode true in practice.

So right now, I'm putting my pursuance of a career in the annals of urban planning on hold. I'll still enjoy learning about the subject, but I don't think I'll be pursuing a future in it (though with the way my resume has evolved, I believe I'll end up finding myself in the field anyway).

For now, I'll stick with my soul-sucking yet incredibly stable job. I can't complain too much now since I finally have a view of the outside world from my desk (I went from a part timer in a cubicle to having two minions and an office within one year of employment...guess I've made some real strides). So were my years of training to eventually practice in the field of transportation planning all in vain? No, of course not. It got me here.

"their comments: important, but not that important. we're offering a free service! how often do you get customer service for a free service?"
-RW