Dream Job

I have had a pretty solid idea of what I would hope my career would be some day... But this year I have been thrown into a whirlwind of possibilities as I finish the coursework in my major (1 class and an internship to go!!) and my eyes have been opened to all the directions I could go. I think I have come full circle, but during all of that, I have learned so much more about what I would want to do, and the vision of this dream job has become so much clearer. I'll start from the beginning. Leading up to college I was sure that I wanted to some day start my own long term health care facility, small and family based, and focusing on alternative forms of preventative medicine (ex: yoga therapy, pet therapy, massage therapy, support groups etc.) With a major in Family Services and the masters I have always hoped to go for (public administration/health) I would hopefully be qualified to make this happen someday. I LOVE my coursework. However, had UNI offered nutrition and dietetics as a major, I would have definitely gone into that field, and recently I have realized that I could incorporate that in the work that I'm qualified to do by going into family nutrition. But here's the exciting part... A few weeks ago I found a family wellness center in Anchorage where they focus on all of these things, and I am hoping to apply for an internship here during the summer, we'll see how that goes. Seeing the website gave me hope that a clinic like the place I would ideally work really does exist, and it gets better. I happened upon an article the other day that literally hit so close to home I was just on a high for days after, reading it to everyone I passed practically. It was a story of a farm where they do horticultural therapy for people with various mental illnesses. It's a small place, maybe 10 people live there at a time, and they are all responsible for caring for a garden, animals, chores, and they cook one night a week for the other members of the house. I will tell more to anyone who is interested because I can tell I'm dragging on and on (this happens when I'm excited about something). But honestly, it came back to doing EXACTLY what I wanted to do, but in a creative way that tied in all of the other areas I have wanted to get into. Now I just need to learn more about gardening or hire a horticultural specialist (Aunt Deb help!) Anyway, just wanted to share that with you all... I would be so excited to be a part of something like that at some time in my life, whether or not it was my own.