You know about “The Track”. Or maybe you call it The Plan. You get good grades and go to a good college. You compete for important internships, apply to a top graduate school, making sure that you are getting good grades while working for a great firm or organization, and finally graduate and get a top job in the government, a law firm or in Washington, a “beltway bandit” or a government contractor.

I hate the track. Ok, it’s not that I hate it, I’m just not very good at it. I went to great schools, I did all the right internships, and I even got the “dream job”, working at The White House and then the State Department.

But instead of spending my summers interning at think tanks, I volunteered with my Church and went on mission trips. Instead of working at the World Bank or interning at the State Department in Graduate School, I worked as a youth director and taught Sunday School.

The problem with “The Track” for me is that it’s lonely! I thrive on working for other people. I’m just not as concerned with the right job or the right education as I am about striving to make other peoples lives better.