Talking to My Friends on the Phone Led to My Calling—Writing and Teaching

By Andrea Askowitz

My daughter, Tashi, just finished her first year of college. Over spring break, my dad asked her what she wants to study. “Dad stop,” I said and threw my arm in front of his chest to block him. The number of times this 19-year-old has been asked what she wants to study is in the hundreds. It pisses her off because she doesn’t know yet. It pisses me off too.

For years, and I mean like my whole life, I didn’t know what I wanted to study either, and when the question ca...