HE WORLD'S SHORTEST books" was the title of the e-mail joke. I scanned the list. It was a bit predictable. Promises kept by politicians. Directory of honest lawyers. Enjoyable visits to the dentist. What got my attention, though, was the last one: career opportunities for history majors. I was a history major.

Three years later and on the brink of earning a new degree, I was ready to add another book to the list: career opportunities for people with a master's in English. It's not that I was worried about my career, I told myself. I was merely concerned.

Like many of my fellow graduates, I wanted the security of a white picket fence, a dog (golden retriever), 2.5 children, and a car (that actually worked and was painted red) sitting in the driveway. But I didn't want a monotonous life, either. I would prefer a job where trips to Cairo and conferences in Madrid were all part of the workweek fun.

The Search Begins
As I perched on my straw chair, sorting through help-wanted ads, articles on landing the perfect job, and sample cover letters, it began to dawn on me that I might have to rethink my career aspirations. I decided to scale for a promising future and maybe dental insurance. (My dentist had just informed me that I had five cavities, my first ever.)

Over the weekend I wrote my cover letters and made a résumé. After I printed them on nice paper, I decided that even I would hire me! Monday morning, bright-eyed and hopeful, I dropped the letters into the mailbox and began to wait-but not patiently.

Every day, as soon as I got home from school, I would race to the mailbox and yank it open. I'd flip through the mail-bills, advertisements, but no job offers.

It took a couple weeks before the rejection letters began to flutter in like wounded butterflies. I took the first couple good-naturedly, even pleasantly. As
the last couple arrived, though, I wasn't exactly gnashing my teeth, but I have to admit I was worried. Now, I just wanted a job-and desperately.

I eventually found one teaching English at a university in South Korea. It was near my sister, who lived there. It satisfied my cravings for foreign countries. And it was challenging. But as my friend Bob put it, "teaching English in South Korea is for those of us who haven't decided what we'll do when we grow up." Most of the time this didn't bother me. But sometimes late at night, when counting sheep wouldn't put me to sleep, I began to wonder-whatever will I do when I grow up? I pictured myself in 20 years still thinking that a career was something I'd get later, like gray hair or wrinkles. But of course by then I'd already have gray hair and wrinkles. What if I retire before I ever find a meaningful career?

A Change in Perspective
It was Martin Luther King, Jr., who put things into perspective for me. I adore quotes, and his has become a motto. In a speech he once said, "Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?"

The assumption was that I had already found Christ. Now as a Christian, I have two responsibilities: to love God first, and to love my neighbor as myself. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s statement reminded me that I had loved myself more than my neighbor. I had been looking at a good career as an indicator that I had arrived. But when it comes to a successful life, the benchmark is not how much money I make, or how much job security I have. The true measure of success is whether I find ways to help other people each and every day.

When I look inward trying to find success, I feel trapped at the bottom of a crowded career ladder. The future seems like a dark, scary place-like a cave full of bats. But when I look outward, every new day is filled with possibilities. No matter where I am or what I do, I can always bet on finding someone who needs my help.

And there's an added bonus. I'm less grumpy. I've always been an avid bookworm who jealously guards her reading time. In the past, if someone interrupted me in the middle of a good book and then (horror of horrors) asked for a favor, I'd do it-but with no smile on my face and no spring in my step. Now I'm not quite Pollyanna, but I'm trying to change my attitude. I'm trying to see favors asked as opportunities to succeed in my personal career-helping others.

I'm beginning to agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, "It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

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Sari Fordham teaches English in South Korea.