Thursday, June 26, 2008
Line of Best Fit
Still one of my favorite songs of all time, although I haven't thought about it for a long while. Like old memories, it got lost. I played that CD so much, and at times I listened to that song over and over. Call me a masochist, but it got me through things, like great records do.
Death Cab For Cutie Lyrics
Line Of Best Fit. Lyrics..
It really spoke to me.
Lately, I've been thinking about that again. Paths and patterns. My future seems brighter than it ever has.
I took a vocational test at work last week. It's going to sound cheesy, but here's the back story. I work in an office where our mission is to help students find careers and carve their pathways into them. To succeed. To get out there and use their education. And then to give back to the University, either as alumni or as recruits. My role could be the most or least important, or somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I feel it's minimal. Others, I feel like I am part of this momentum, and I am making a difference. At best, I am, and I am inspired by so many around me. At worst, it's a means to an end, but that's only when I get itchy feet or when I'm super bored.
I have gotten off the subject. Anyway, they had everyone in the office take this test, and tomorrow we are going to go over the results in depth. They think the process will either a) work to help us each understand our role as contributors to a team, but also b) to recognize our individual strengths and weaknesses, and c) so we might have a better idea of whom just might be the missing piece of the puzzle, because we are understaffed and want to recruit those who could give an outstanding contribution in expanding the work we are doing, without having to upset the structure I think too much.
Anyway, it was spot on; it listed five strengths in depth, and pointed to careers, and strategic means of maximizing them, and suggested approaches to learning to get the most out of them, etc.
I won't bore you with the details, but I found it pretty fascinating. And though on one hand my boss thought it was sorta hokey and related it more to something like astrology than "hard science", it spoke to me.
The last trait for me, of the five, was called Connectedness. It completely described my worldview, and my values, addressing the deeply spiritual nature I see humans and animals, and the big picture, and the reasons I make some of the choices I do. It even recommended several programs for me that I am coincidentally applying to, and some others I have thought about exploring in the past.
The thing about it is, there's nothing coincidental about it. That's what Connectedness is about -- the interconnection of people, things, and events. Even when I'm not thinking about this at all, things happen, and I can't help but later think they were not a coincidence, that coincidences do not exist.
I'm not even going to call it fate. Fate could only be one spot on the metaphysical graph we draw our paths on. And they are not linear; the line of best fit is the best fit acknowledging that it includes error.
I'm going to be longwinded tonight. I already am, but I've just got too much to say, so please stick with this; I've got some points. (Hah. Points.)
Last Friday, my department had a "retreat." Actually, we got to spend the day at Dave and Busters. It was pretty cool, for what might have otherwise been a yucky boring meeting day. In between a meeting session, after lunch, I ended up having a long discussion with two of my coworkers about my future plans.
I don't even know how it started; I guess with the fact that I had taken a test this morning, and thought I had gotten a B (turns out I got another A! -- but I didn't know that till later). I was a little bummed. I told them about the specific goals I have decided upon, and that I've done the math. I've done plenty of homework. I have to make certain grades; I have to have a financial plan, and there are many other things I need to consider as well. Planning this stuff is not going to be easy.
So, without my really asking for it, they opened up and gave me some really great advice. Questions I could ask. Alternative ways to make ends meet. And other nonprofits I hadn't thought of -- like one in Houston where "volunteers" help tutor kids in reading that sounded really cool, for instance.
It wasn't until yesterday, taking a walk on campus, that I realized how lucky I am. Except that it's not an accident that I ended up there, working in exactly the right place. It's not just that they help me, but they've encouraged me to look outside of where I've been looking. Basically, for the first time I realized I don't have to do this all by myself. I don't have to walk into something so blindly. Not be prepared. Not know what my options are. And more importantly, I don't have to sell myself short.
Back to the Line of Best Fit. This is even crazier. OK, I'm liking research methods class. Last semester, I perceived that I wouldn't get it; that it wasn't interesting; that I would never use it. But I gave myself a talkin-to right before the summer session started, and I'm doing it. Not only am I making an A, I am engaged in it. I have learned things that I will use. I may not want to be a social researcher, but at least I will know a little about how it is done. At least I will have a better eye concerning what I can trust and not trust.
Which also made it easier for me to digest that vocational test. Even while I was taking it, I understood the method, and I was able to be completely honest.
My boss told me when he took it, he put himself in his work mindset. He said, "I'm different at work than outside of work," so he intentionally thought of work scenarios when thinking over the test questions.
I didn't do that. Because I don't think work should be separate from who you are. That is probably the largest reason so many are dissatisfied with what they do, and I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for a way I want to live my life. I'm looking for the Golden Egg. I'm looking for fulfillment. I'm looking for a vocation, a career that will fall in line with my values, and what I want to gain from life itself.
And there's the Connectedness again.
Then there's the Line. And just like this story about all the things I've taken today, there are a series of points outlining it. The Line of Best Fit, in social research, falls through the sum of the squared differences between predicted and actual outcomes.
That's what life is like. I'm a key opponent of living a linear life, or at least, I tell people often, "Well, I've never lived a linear life." Especially lately, when all these people from high school have been randomly writing me, asking me what the last 10 years have been like.
That said, the Line of Best Fit is truth and fiction. It exists, but it doesn't. It is the line that can be formed through minimizing the likelihood of error. In Regressive Research, it is the Golden Egg.
My notebook paper had and x- and y-axis drawn, with points scattered and a line going through them, but not through them. It had scratch-outs, too.
Man, maybe I'm tired; maybe I'm reading too much into things, but I don't think so. Moments of clarity are few and precious, and right now, I'm savoring it. Because that's what you're supposed to do.
Still one of my favorite songs of all time, although I haven't thought about it for a long while. Like old memories, it got lost. I played that CD so much, and at times I listened to that song over and over. Call me a masochist, but it got me through things, like great records do.
Death Cab For Cutie Lyrics
Line Of Best Fit. Lyrics..
It really spoke to me.
Lately, I've been thinking about that again. Paths and patterns. My future seems brighter than it ever has.
I took a vocational test at work last week. It's going to sound cheesy, but here's the back story. I work in an office where our mission is to help students find careers and carve their pathways into them. To succeed. To get out there and use their education. And then to give back to the University, either as alumni or as recruits. My role could be the most or least important, or somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I feel it's minimal. Others, I feel like I am part of this momentum, and I am making a difference. At best, I am, and I am inspired by so many around me. At worst, it's a means to an end, but that's only when I get itchy feet or when I'm super bored.
I have gotten off the subject. Anyway, they had everyone in the office take this test, and tomorrow we are going to go over the results in depth. They think the process will either a) work to help us each understand our role as contributors to a team, but also b) to recognize our individual strengths and weaknesses, and c) so we might have a better idea of whom just might be the missing piece of the puzzle, because we are understaffed and want to recruit those who could give an outstanding contribution in expanding the work we are doing, without having to upset the structure I think too much.
Anyway, it was spot on; it listed five strengths in depth, and pointed to careers, and strategic means of maximizing them, and suggested approaches to learning to get the most out of them, etc.
I won't bore you with the details, but I found it pretty fascinating. And though on one hand my boss thought it was sorta hokey and related it more to something like astrology than "hard science", it spoke to me.
The last trait for me, of the five, was called Connectedness. It completely described my worldview, and my values, addressing the deeply spiritual nature I see humans and animals, and the big picture, and the reasons I make some of the choices I do. It even recommended several programs for me that I am coincidentally applying to, and some others I have thought about exploring in the past.
The thing about it is, there's nothing coincidental about it. That's what Connectedness is about -- the interconnection of people, things, and events. Even when I'm not thinking about this at all, things happen, and I can't help but later think they were not a coincidence, that coincidences do not exist.
I'm not even going to call it fate. Fate could only be one spot on the metaphysical graph we draw our paths on. And they are not linear; the line of best fit is the best fit acknowledging that it includes error.
I'm going to be longwinded tonight. I already am, but I've just got too much to say, so please stick with this; I've got some points. (Hah. Points.)
Last Friday, my department had a "retreat." Actually, we got to spend the day at Dave and Busters. It was pretty cool, for what might have otherwise been a yucky boring meeting day. In between a meeting session, after lunch, I ended up having a long discussion with two of my coworkers about my future plans.
I don't even know how it started; I guess with the fact that I had taken a test this morning, and thought I had gotten a B (turns out I got another A! -- but I didn't know that till later). I was a little bummed. I told them about the specific goals I have decided upon, and that I've done the math. I've done plenty of homework. I have to make certain grades; I have to have a financial plan, and there are many other things I need to consider as well. Planning this stuff is not going to be easy.
So, without my really asking for it, they opened up and gave me some really great advice. Questions I could ask. Alternative ways to make ends meet. And other nonprofits I hadn't thought of -- like one in Houston where "volunteers" help tutor kids in reading that sounded really cool, for instance.
It wasn't until yesterday, taking a walk on campus, that I realized how lucky I am. Except that it's not an accident that I ended up there, working in exactly the right place. It's not just that they help me, but they've encouraged me to look outside of where I've been looking. Basically, for the first time I realized I don't have to do this all by myself. I don't have to walk into something so blindly. Not be prepared. Not know what my options are. And more importantly, I don't have to sell myself short.
Back to the Line of Best Fit. This is even crazier. OK, I'm liking research methods class. Last semester, I perceived that I wouldn't get it; that it wasn't interesting; that I would never use it. But I gave myself a talkin-to right before the summer session started, and I'm doing it. Not only am I making an A, I am engaged in it. I have learned things that I will use. I may not want to be a social researcher, but at least I will know a little about how it is done. At least I will have a better eye concerning what I can trust and not trust.
Which also made it easier for me to digest that vocational test. Even while I was taking it, I understood the method, and I was able to be completely honest.
My boss told me when he took it, he put himself in his work mindset. He said, "I'm different at work than outside of work," so he intentionally thought of work scenarios when thinking over the test questions.
I didn't do that. Because I don't think work should be separate from who you are. That is probably the largest reason so many are dissatisfied with what they do, and I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for a way I want to live my life. I'm looking for the Golden Egg. I'm looking for fulfillment. I'm looking for a vocation, a career that will fall in line with my values, and what I want to gain from life itself.
And there's the Connectedness again.
Then there's the Line. And just like this story about all the things I've taken today, there are a series of points outlining it. The Line of Best Fit, in social research, falls through the sum of the squared differences between predicted and actual outcomes.
That's what life is like. I'm a key opponent of living a linear life, or at least, I tell people often, "Well, I've never lived a linear life." Especially lately, when all these people from high school have been randomly writing me, asking me what the last 10 years have been like.
That said, the Line of Best Fit is truth and fiction. It exists, but it doesn't. It is the line that can be formed through minimizing the likelihood of error. In Regressive Research, it is the Golden Egg.
My notebook paper had and x- and y-axis drawn, with points scattered and a line going through them, but not through them. It had scratch-outs, too.
Man, maybe I'm tired; maybe I'm reading too much into things, but I don't think so. Moments of clarity are few and precious, and right now, I'm savoring it. Because that's what you're supposed to do.
Labels: Career, College, Death Cab
1 Comments:
Fascinating. And yay for you. :)
