It’s always good to have a definite sense of things you’re “pro” at and things that need improvement. To help me get a more concrete awareness of this, I’ve compiled two lists, aptly entitled: “Things I’m pro at” and “Things I could be pro at.” This is what I’ve come up with:

Things I’m pro at:

• I’m pretty pro at parallel parking.
• I’m pro at alliteration.
• I’m pro at not eating meat.
• I’m pretty pro at making mix-tapes.

Things I could be pro at:

• I could be pro at using the term “jonesin’.”
• I could be pro at living with my parents.
• I could be pro at posting on craigslist.
• I could be pro at owning a jet pack.

Now that I’ve compiled these lists, I think I should explain them.

• Parallel parking: today I parallel parked really well. I didn’t hit the car in front or behind me. I also didn’t run up on the curb. So, it turns out I’m pro at parallel parking.
• Alliteration: see the first thing I’m pro at.
• Not eating meat, yeah, I guess you could say I’m pro at not eating meat. One time, I almost ate meat, but then decided I wasn’t ready to retire yet.
• Mix-tapes: I’m pretty pro at making them. I’ve made over 100. Most of them are excellent. A couple are so-so. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on my mix-tapes, but that’s neither here nor there.

So, if I continue my “pro-ness” in these things, I probably could include them on my curriculum vitae. What grad school wouldn’t want someone who’s pro at parallel parking? I’ll tell you: Nazi grad schools, that’s who.

As far as the things I could be pro at, I’ve determined training methods to become pro at them. For instance, to become pro at using the term “jonesin’,” all I would have to do is use the term more often. And let me tell you, I’ve been jonesin’ to use “jonesin’” more often!

Living with my parents: after graduation if I don’t get into any schools, I could potentially become pro at living with my parents. I’m really excited about the process of adding another thing that I’m pro at to the list. I’ll let everyone know how it turns out.

I don’t think I will ever become pro at posting on Craigslist. It’s just not meant to be… oh well. Maybe with the money I save training to be pro at living with my parents, I could buy a jet pack and thus become pro at owning a jet pack.

Owning a jet pack would be really cool. I can imagine it already. I’d invite someone over (to my parents’ home), and she would say, “Oh, what’s that?”

I would answer, “Oh, that. It’s nothing, boring really.” But she would persist, so I would say, “Eh, it’s just my jet pack; no big deal. Want to see my record player?” Yeah, that would be so cool. Just brush off owning a jet pack like it’s nothing.

And if she still wanted to know more, I could say,

“Jet packs have been a part of my life since I was little…” and launch into a story about jet packing around. The woman and I would probably get married after that, NBD (no big deal).