Stumbling toward a career

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash

It was in the air, the way out of West Texas poverty was higher education.

Inertia kept most of my peers going down the dusty road with no view of the next turn. No way to live other than pressing the accelerator. Or, slamming the brake to stay alive around life’s curves.

I went to a high school that had less than 100 students. So the main interest wasn’t academic, it was sports.

Basketball and football players did what they told them to do. Start building muscle in junior high and play in high school. They played because their uncle or father had played years before. Not to become a pro. Not as a way out. But, at least the coaches prepared them for life’s trials.

What did the others of us do? We took a few tests and figured out what education we needed. Then, do not do that.

For the unprepared it was daddy’s farm for the lucky ones. Some realized they needed an alternative and joined the military.

Some got out of town for a semiskilled job in the town up the road. Some worked on machinery or cars and got a job at a garage. Or, started in construction and worked seasonally for the man. Some worked in the oil patch.

Some worked at a local restaurant and soon realized it was a short trip to poverty with no off ramp.