Looking back at 2007

In retrospect, 2007 was a decent year, but not one I’d like to repeat. In January I had high hopes to become a diplomat in the U.S. State Department. When that fell through in February, I then tried for the Presidential Management Fellowship, but that didn’t work out either.

At that point I was kind of lost. I didn’t have much confidence in either my Chinese or Korean skills, and I didn’t have any relevant industry experiences to speak of, so SY and I agreed to return to Korea on a teaching contract and look for other opportunities there.

Armed with an F-2 visa, I set out to find something worthwhile. In the meantime I picked up a part-time job tutoring partners of Price Waterhouse Coopers, but I still felt kind of depressed about not being able to find something more “respectable.”

That lasted until I got a job offer from Korea Exchange Bank in late August, which really turned things around. Strangely, even though that fell through, too (my school shafted me), from that point I no longer felt bad about my job. I guess it was the sense of validation the offer gave – I wasn’t just some unemployable loser.

We also found out in August that SY was pregnant, which we were happy about, too. From that point, the rest of the year was pretty good.

Since starting work in May, I’ve been able to pay down more than $9,000 in student loans. By the time the baby is born, I’ll have paid off all of the nearly $14,000 private loan that I took out during graduate school.

I also figured out what I want to do when my contract ends in May: get commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

I was thinking about enlisting in September, back when the Army was offering a $20,000 bonus for a “quick-ship” to basic training (before the end of the fiscal year). The pregnancy ended that idea, and it became clearer that going for an officer position would be better. In December, I submitted my application materials.

I have several big things to look forward to on 2008.

First is the birth in April of my first child.
Second is getting a commission and, by extension, a career.
Third is paying off that private loan. From that point, I won’t have to worry about anything else – the Army would take care of my $53,000 in federal student loans.

So I get the distinct impression 2008 will be a pretty good year. I certainly look forward to it.