I wrote this essay nearly a year ago and never heard a word until last night. It has just been published online on “This I Believe,” I am surprised and pleased to report!

http://thisibelieve.org/essay/103195/

Today, Chris is working on his PhD in Marketing at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. I still think it’s terrible when companies are so callous to the eager people hoping they may find employment with them. Even a kind letter or email thanking them for applying and wishing them well is preferable to dead silence – and that silence is particularly unforgivable when the applicant has made it to the interview stage. It’s cruel and it’s hateful.

But it’s funny how things work out. Chris is really happy working on his research and writing and teaching undergrad tutorials. I can see him teaching at a college; academia should suit him well.

Would he be as happy if one of the jobs had come through with an advertising agency in Cleveland or Chicago? We’ll never know. I don’t believe there is necessarily one “right” career path for each person. For that matter, changing career paths a couple times (or more) over the course of our working years is more common than in the past. Life is full of twists and turns and unexpected opportunities.

We all wonder about a road not taken somewhere along the line. That’s life. We make the best choices we can with what we know at the time, and move on. I wish I had stayed a journalism major at Ohio University when I began college. Nevertheless, life has been full and fascinating and I am thoroughly enjoying blogging – an activity that was unimaginable when I was in college about 100 years ago!

Anyway. My thought for today is simply – be kind. Treat others as you’d like to be treated. Always a good goal to keep in mind.