My friend Kaylin is in South Korea teaching English as a Second Language. She writes a
great blog about her experiences that takes a wonderfully ironic look at her existence as an outsider there. She wrote an
interesting post the other day about her experiences in the policy oriented non-profit world vs. being a teacher. Key quote below:
Sometimes I still feel like interacting with children all day is making me less sharp. Yet playing a part in civilizing small barbarians to respect each others property and treat each other kindly is, in a way, a lot more satisfying than fact-checking a chapter for some brilliant scholar's new book.
When I look back at my teaching experiences through my emotional lens, I can't help but feel the same way. There are few people out there who stay apprised of the minutia of education policy and even fewer who actually can stake out a coherent, relevant, set of positions as to what should be done. Contrast that with seeing a student understand what multiplication is or smile when the lightbulb goes off in their head about how to write a concluding sentence for their paragraph. These and many other things were incredibly gratifying. But...
I don't usually use my emotions when I look at things. I try to maintain a healthy skepticism about just about everything I encounter. Sometimes this is helpful. Sometimes I come off like an ass. Here goes my attempt at something in between the two.
People tend to want their work/lives to be meaningful. It's a natural thing to do and is perfectly legitimate. But this does not mean that one job is objectively superior to the other, just that for those individuals it might be more personally satisfying. Similarly, I don't understand the whole profit vs. nonprofit vs. government argument. Each sector has different things it does (hopefully) and I know of people in every sector who are either extremely happy and excited to come into work every day or downright miserable and feel as though they'd contribute more to society if they just stayed in bed when they wake up. In my mind, the key is to figure out what kind of work makes you feel like you are making a positive contribution and not to be dogmatic about which sector you work in to accomplish that work.
I once was at a forum where Michelle Rhee was speaking and someone asked about whether the DC Public Schools should only work with non-profits to provide services in the district. Her response - "First, let's be clear about something. There are a lot of people out there making money off of children." My sentiments exactly. Unless you are volunteering, the only difference in someone's work is the approach and specific outcomes that are desired. The basic idea is still the same; create value for your organization which, in turn, creates value for society. This is my non-romantic version of why I get up in the morning and I'm sticking to it...for now.
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