When I was little, the answer to the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” changed for me all the time. One day I wanted to be a baker, the next day I wanted to be an artist. I think I even considered wanting to be an FBI agent, but that was probably because I was watching too much Criminal Minds.
In high school, when I thought about what I should major in in college, I truly had no idea. I bounced around a couple of ideas, mostly centered around what I thought I might be good at, not necessarily what I was passionate about or what I felt called to. I ruled out anything medical because I cannot stand the site of blood. I did not enjoy anything science or math related nor did I want to go into teaching. I just felt as if there was nothing that stuck out to me. If I could do it over, I would have gone in undecided. However, I eventually decided on journalism due to a single sentence in a book I read.
Through a leadership training course called Habitudes at my high school, we were encouraged to take the Strengthsfinder test. After you take the test, you get to read up on each of your top 5 strengths. One of my top ones was “adaptability” and in that chapter, it had a section about good career areas for that strength and the first one listed was journalism. I decided to run with it.
While journalism ended up not being for me, it did lead me on a path to have to consider who I was and what I was passionate about a little deeper. I took a course in interpersonal communications and realized that I care a lot about how people interact with one another. I loved the idea of developing stellar communication skills, diving in deeper to how people develop, and knowing how best to create a collaborative environment. God has created us as relational beings and learning how to interact well with one another can make a big impact in the world. I decided to switch my major to strategic communications and have never once looked back.
As I dove into my senior year, I did a lot of reflection on what experiences have had the most impact on me, hoping to unpack a little bit of God’s call for my life. Specifically, I thought through a lot about the different jobs I have had during my time here, all the ones I liked and did not like. In my first three years, I took a few different jobs that required social media management, because I thought that is what I wanted to do, and I was told I was good at it. Yet, job after job, I never felt passionate about it and kept getting burnt out. I remember thinking, “how am I going to make a career out of something that keeps draining me?”
As a Calling & Career Office intern, I was introduced to the idea that calling and career have different meanings within my own life. As I did leadership training for both the CCO and TSO (Taylor Student Organization) office, I engaged with a lot of self-reflection and started to see what things in life give me energy and what things drain me. I was challenged to use these energizers to focus on my calling, which takes priority over a career in my mind. To me, a calling is channeling your energizers into passion and using that to guide a life that is aimed at glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. A career is simply an area for those passions to be put to use.
My junior year I heard a sermon on John 15. It focused on the idea of Jesus as the vine and we are the branches. In a vineyard, branches that are not bearing fruit are cut off, while branches who are bearing fruit are pruned so that they can be even more fruitful. The pastor explained that this analogy should demonstrate the life of a believer. First, Jesus should not be an area of our life, but instead the foundation, the vine itself. Second, as believers we are called to bear fruit for the Kingdom so that the vineyard can grow. God chose us so that we will bear fruit that lasts (John 15:16). While each person chooses a different path, our calling, as Christ followers, is to root all we do in glorifying Jesus Christ and in the mission of furthering His kingdom.
Taking all of this in, I realized that no matter what I do career-wise, my focus—my calling—should always be to bear fruit. I want to take what God has given me, the resources, opportunities, passions, energy, and channel that into what I decide to do with my life. After digging deeper into what calling means to me, I have never felt so much peace looking towards the future.
As for a career, I do not have it all figured out, but I at least have a step in the right direction. I learned that social media management, although it was a money-maker, drained my energy. It did not fulfill my love for communication, relationships, and collaboration. I was introduced to the idea of higher education and student affairs during a conversation with my supervisor in the CCO. I was simply telling her about things that I have enjoyed during my time at Taylor and she tilted her head and said “well, have you ever considered higher ed?” That conversation led me to do a ton of research and immediately get excited. The idea of helping students achieve their goals during a formative time in undergrad checks all my boxes of passion for me. This semester, while applying to grad school for higher education, has sparked so much excitement for the future and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me.
Maddy Miller
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