I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, mainly about where I want to be in the next couple of years.

I’m sure I’m not alone; after all, a university is one of the most common places that you will find confused young minds.

I suppose I would fall under the category of “confused,” seeing as I frequently doubt the purpose of attending this university, or any university, for that matter.

All I know is that I do want to be somewhere in the next couple of years, but just where that somewhere might be is still up in the air. I’d like to be writing for a newspaper after I leave ISU … I guess. That is the field of study that I am being prepared for.

If I didn’t want to write newsworthy leads or mind-stimulating columns for the rest of my life, then I wouldn’t be wasting everybody’s time and money to learn how to do so.

However, I have found myself regarding my future degree as more of a safety net than a career choice. I find myself wanting to do other things besides hitting the local beat for a story.

I would like to concentrate on my fictional creative writing, which is something that I feel I have the potential for making a career out of.

Unfortunately, the profession of a novelist is not one with a huge career field. People that I have discussed this matter with compare making it in the writing business to being drafted for the NBA: Not many people make it.

But even the small chance for success hasn’t deterred me from giving it a try. There are a couple of reasons for my persistence in writing.

Obviously one is not for financial security, as there isn’t a real set salary for people that write short stories.

Nor is it based on the amount of work I have to do. It may seem easy to write for a living, but to come up with enough original material that is written clearly is a very tough task.

The main reason that I want to write is because I enjoy it. I can’t see myself doing something for the rest of my life that I don’t enjoy. I would rather be happy than be extremely comfortable from a financial standpoint.

If that were so, I would have stayed at the University of Northern Iowa, and stayed with my computer science major. But that’s not how it is.

I’ve seen people go into areas that guarantee a high starting salary, and burn themselves out on stuff that never really interested them in the first place.

If money could instantly bring happiness, then maybe it would be worth these people hating themselves for four or five years until they get out in the real world.

I do realize that people can’t always do what they want if they want to survive. Money may not be everything, but it is the medium of exchange that our society lives by. So people like myself go to college so they have something to fall back on in case their dreams don’t become a reality.

But this brings up a dilemma: Is it worth spending all of this money for tuition and housing, and what have you for a safety net? If I really want to work as a writer, why am I not whipping out tale after horrific tale and attempting to have them published? Why am I learning another trade which may end up taking a back seat?

Well, if for some bizarre reason I don’t make it in the world of fictional writing, I would like to have a job that allows me to write … such as at a newspaper. I’d rather have that option open rather than working for minimum wage.

I should mention that I got one of my Christmas wishes a bit early. The kind people from Home Team Pizza gave me a job answering their phones. I’ve worked a couple of nights fielding phone calls, and I’m happy to report that it’s pretty fun.

But when I think about the kinds of jobs that I want to hold in a couple of years, the minimum wage jobs just don’t quite make the list.

This is not to say that I don’t appreciate the job I was recently given; it’s fine to make a few extra bucks that way. But as for my permanent line of work, it just won’t cut it.

Although money isn’t a main concern of mine, it does make a difference in living in today’s society.

Not only does college give me the degree necessary to work at a publication, but it has also provided many interesting contacts with parts of society I would’ve never experienced otherwise.

You learn a lot at college outside the classroom, and sometimes these things are more valuable than anything on a teacher’s syllabus.

And if I wasn’t going to school here at ISU, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to write for this wonderful publication. And you, in turn, wouldn’t get to read the wisdom that I have been sharing. Wouldn’t that be a tragedy?

I guess I would suggest going for your goals, even if they aren’t exactly practical. But if you want to walk the tightrope of life, you better invest in some sort of security device.

Society isn’t going to provide it for you, even though it will watch to see if you fall.

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Christopher Clair is a junior in journalism mass communication from Waukon.