Generalist vs. Specialist

At times I view the college years of my life with regret. You'd think holding a degree in Electrical Engineering means you possess some ability relating to electrical work. Ha! Ha! There wasn't room to trifle with courses of such practical purpose. I've worried ever since about my lack of a skill or trade.

But recently I'm wondering if some good didn't come of that education after all. I learned in college to be a generalist by balancing the different responsibilities of those years, never getting bogged down in any one area, so to always be ready for the next demand.

I still occasionally wonder if "generalist" is just an employer's euphemism for "Useful Idiot". But the work pays the bills, or to put it more biblically, provides for my family.

I'd like to be a specialist someday; but I first have to find the one thing I'd enjoy specializing in. Looking back, I'm glad the earlier temptations and disappointments of piloting and pastoring never got off the ground. But perhaps someday soon I'll find the right life's work to pour myself into.