I picked the pen

Ok, I guess, since I asked the question, I should also offer my answer… My story is actually not that interesting, but would probably be long. I grew up in an economy/society that encouraged us to think of our future careers from very early on. To illustrate the importance being professionally oriented, let me share a custom we have: when a baby starts walking, we bake a special bread (pitka), we put in on the table, and arrange a bunch of profession-related objects on and around it (pen, pliers, toy truck, thread, etc., whatever’s in the house); then, we let the baby walk toward the pitka and whatever object s/he picks, that’s a sign of her/his future profession. Legend has it that I picked the pen. But one can use the pen for many different things; even if writing is the primary purpose – who is to say what is to be written with the pen (now, I’m thinking it indicated I would become a professional student).

At any rate, I knew (just like my friends knew) from early on that whatever I choose to study should better lead to a career sooner than later. With both my parents engineers by education (they are not teachers) and my brother following in their footsteps and pursing an engineering degree (he is now a journalist), I enrolled in a mathematics-focused and very competitive school where I spent 8 years. I guess I’m kind of slow, because it was not until the 10th grade that I admitted to myself and my teachers that I wanted nothing to do with math. So, I had to find a new “career-path”…

I credit my grandparents, both teachers of literature and philology, with giving me the love for the written word… and I blame them for suggesting journalism as a possible profession. In Bulgaria, I had no idea one can study communication as a social science, because everything was so career-focused, and, I guess, being in academia was not considered a real “profession.” I ended up studying PR and journalism for two years. When I came to the US, I more or less had decided that I’m committed to PR & declared communication w/ PR concentration as a major. At that time, I was still thinking that I’ll end up working for some corporation. My notion of communication was purely commercial – only it turned out I ended up in a lot more critical than hands-on, “this is what you do to get the big bucks” kind of department. In Bulgaria, we had an advertising course centered around the mantra of “sex sells;” our final goal was to produce an ad using sex to sell; in the US, I also had a course that more or less centered around “sex sells” only from a critical feminist perspective. I guess the second option fit my personal ethics better & opened my eyes to a different side of communication.

As for the matter of “my” fathers and mothers in communication… Outside of those we learned about in school, I consider (as I mentioned in class) the anonymous creators of folklore to be the parents of communication as I now understand it. A lot of the Bulgarian folklore talks about resisting the Turks and preserving our culture – these anonymous songs and stories not only provide models of how communication may have served resistance; as texts, they also are resistance.