have never known what my next step in life will be.

Most of the people I knew in high school had plans for their post-graduation summers and where they would continue their education or enter the workforce.

It wasn't until after a few weeks of running the projectors at a movie theatre (a job I had held for two years) that I knew where I was going to go to college.

Junior college, as it turned out.

One year later it came down to Tech and Mississippi State because those were the only architecture schools around here I seriously considered. After an impersonal tour with a guy who didn't seem to care and being told summer school was required, State paled in comparison to Tech and was subsequently eliminated.

That explains my arrival in Ruston and two Ds in second-year studios explain the change in major -- partly.

But why journalism?

I still don't really know.

Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind I am hoping to vicariously fulfill that boyhood dream of being first baseman for the Atlanta Braves.

But I do know it's been a great fit and I'm told continually by the current managing editor that I'm "fabulous" so that's got to be worth something (but she says it to everyone, so maybe not).

And now, seven quarters later, I am preparing to walk across the stage two weeks from Saturday, shake Dr Reneau's hand, and end my formal education.

And, just like five years ago, I do not know where I'll be going or what I'll be doing from this point on.

I served my time on The Tech Talk, covered some high school sports for The Ruston Daily Leader and will soon a have a degree that shows people I've learned something, but none of this mandates I receive a job offer (if you've had an interview, you're a step ahead of me).

And once again the people around me all seem to have plans.

Whether it be a job in Shreveport, an internship in Boston or another year or two producing "the student voice of Louisiana Tech University," their plans for the immediate future seem set.

All I've got is the rŽsumŽ drawn up, cover letters typed out and my best clips ready to send off to parts unknown.

I've already started to "cast a wide net" as I've been told, but so far the fish seem to be in a school on the other side of the boat.

The only responses I've received from potential employers are e-mails and letters saying roughly "as expected, there were many qualified candidates and, while you were qualified for our position, we have decided to go a different direction," if I've received any response at all.

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, I'll at least receive a phone call.

Just look at the mug shot in the upper-left corner ... how can you resist that face?

Brian Tynes is a senior journalism major from Brandon, Miss., and serves as a news editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to bnt004@latech.edu.