Getting Paid to do What You Love

I always encourage my students to think about what they want to do. Really think about it. You will spend a good portion of your life working. You better do something you have a passion for.

I was sitting at my desk this morning reading the New York Times. Next to me sat a stack of magazines (I am addicted to magazines - doesn't much matter what kind of magazine). Considering that I am still new in my position here, I felt a bit guilty reading the paper and thinking about which magazine I wanted to read. In an organization, you generally are not paid to read the paper. You are paid to produce grand works from your small cubicle.

I get paid to read. I get paid to know what's going on. I get paid to find ideas in my information sources. Ideas that I then pass along to unsuspecting students who will glean some grand message from them. I imagine a colleague walking by, peeking in and saying, "Anything good in the Times this morning?" or "I read that article on prescription drugs in Self Magazine also, what did you think?"

While that hasn't happened, I can assure you what won't happen is a slap on the hand for reading. It doesn't get any better than this.