The Butterfly Effect Made Me An Archaeologist
One moment changed my life.
We’ve seen the Butterfly Effect in movies. We’ve read about it in Stephen King’s 11/22/63. We all know how everything we do has an impact. But not many of us can look back on our life, to one moment, and point the finger. To see when the train changed tracks, or when the camel’s back was broken. For me, I can, and it came out of nowhere.
In high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do in the future. It seemed so far away. Yet by virtue of the education system, I had to start making choices now, and those choices would have impacts down the line. I was a curious and intelligent kid, but I wasn’t drawn to any subject in particular. Maybe Geography because I liked being outside. Maybe. But just as we were making our subject choices for our final school years, they told us the school would be running a journalism course.
On my rudderless ship, I took an interest. Perhaps I could see myself traveling the world. I liked writing, even though my proficiency seemed to be in composing poems that sacrificed all nuance to maintain impeccable rhyming throughout. So I took the journalism course and worked hard in English. There was a target for me to aim at.
A False Start
After 6 months I realized I hated the journalism course. Shock horror. My naïve and apolitical 16-year-old self found the agendas and motives of newspapers and radio stations unappealing. My envisioned utopia of unbiased reporting never materialized. Mandatory viewing of the rather heavy Frost/Nixon political drama to demonstrate the important role journalism plays did little to abate my fears. After I finished the course I decided I’d had enough. The goalposts had moved again.
The problem was that next year I would starting college (which I believe is a senior high school in the US). I needed to pick 4 subjects to study, and I knew that what I chose would restrict what I could eventually pursue at university.
The Bolt from the Blue
Math, a subject I struggled with more than any other, unusually provided the setting for my discovery. Whilst just about intelligent enough to be the top set in Math, I only kept my place through a lot of struggle and help from my close friends. Our teacher’s pace was such that we finished our 2-year course an entire term (several months) early.
I was relieved to be rid of Math for what I assumed would be the rest of my life (and I hope still will be). But the early finish had another benefit. We were allowed to do ‘career-planning’ in the following lessons. This was largely restricted to leafing through prospectuses from our local college. One morning I sifted through the brightly colored pages as I had several times already. Nothing took my fancy. But today would be different.
Changing My Mind
A classmate pushed another prospectus into my face. One he had brought from home, perhaps, and for a college over 40 miles away that I hadn’t even heard of. I took a glance through the booklet. I was surprised to see subjects that I didn’t think you could actually study at college. Amongst the group, I saw Classics, Ancient History, and Archaeology.
I hadn’t enjoyed History in high school. The Second World War and the Russian Revolution weren’t interesting to me. I preferred older stuff, an interest piqued from a childhood playing historical video games such as the Total War franchise. Maybe I was onto something here. And in archaeology, I read that you even got to find the history yourself? I had to find out more.
So I went home, pulled out my computer, and did my research. Looking back, I realize how poorly informed I was. I’d received very little career advice from school, and my family had taken a hands-off approach in that regard. As I mentioned above, it is very early in one’s life to be making decisions that at the time seem all-encompassing. It’s especially difficult for a 16-year-old kid from a quiet coastal town to make an informed life choice, even if your dad says he’ll support whatever you decide on.
Alas, at the time I was just pleased to find out I could study something I was interested in. It was like a new world had opened up to me. Even if I’d only seen the doorway. I took the plunge and did the college application. I remember the surprise on my headteacher’s face when I told him my plans, but as far as I was concerned, I was just waiting for the adventure to start.
College was everything I hoped for — apart from the long bus journeys. We had a great Archaeology teacher, who took us on amazing field trips from Stonehenge to the Orkney Islands. I saw stone circles and tombs thousands of years old. After the first year, I knew I wanted to study the subject at university.
Although the sector has plenty of issues, I’ve now worked in archaeology for four years, seen some amazing things, and met my partner on the job. The last decade of my life was defined by that Math lesson. Is it truly the Butterfly Effect? I don’t know, but it feels like it.
There is no doubt my choices and career has shaped me as a person. I’ve put down the Illiad to write this, and even my holidays are now spent hunting obscure historical sites! But I’ve also noticed I have a similar personality and interests to other archaeologists. Do I believe in fate? I don’t know, but maybe some things happen for a reason.
Above all else, I’ve realized to never be afraid to look outside your boundaries. If you want to try something, for god’s sake try it. You don’t know when the opportunity will come again. Get your foot in the door, you can sort the mess out later.
