Looking back on a 14-year (and still progressing) career at the US EPA while planning for a Happy Valley visit with current students on October 13 (more on that later), a poignant moment is recalled: the day I found a postcard from my favorite PSU professor in the mailbox of my new Washington, DC apartment.

“Andrew,” it said with exasperation, “You went out to change the world and ended up in the belly of the beast!”

Needless to say, my exuberance over securing a job at the Environmental Protection Agency was appropriately humbled.

And yet, now – so many years removed from that postcard and my activist days at Penn State – do I feel like my ideals have been… devoured?

Truthfully?

Sort of.

And: not really.

Contrary to what I believed at PSU (I’m unstoppable!), what I wished for as a young graduate (revolution!), and what I worked for during an ill-fated job in California (power to the people – now!), I’ve come to understand that – except in rare circumstances – change is incremental.

And maybe the most suitable place to implement that gradual change is from within the very “beast” that all too often squelches it (which is the impression many folks have of the federal government).

So, here I am at the EPA, where I work daily on climate change – the mother of all environmental problems.  My job is to provide assistance to local governments and schools, private companies and nonprofits, and common joes from all over the mid-Atlantic.  I help them with efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, lessen their “carbon footprints” and design environmental programs to engage and motivate the broader public.

On the horizon remains the vision of the world as I would like it to be, and from time to time in my day-to-day work, I gaze up to make sure that I’m getting closer to it.

And I am.

I may not be on the path I imagined for myself when I left Penn State with my Political Science degree (member of the revolutionary vanguard… folk hero…etc.), but I’m still heading in the right direction.  Changing the world in small, bite-size chunks; one email, one conference call and one meeting at a time…

How about you?

What are your goals?  What paths do you hope to follow to reach them?

Come share some thoughts with my colleagues and me on October 13 at 6:00pm in 103 Career Services Building.