industry confusion

so i was trying to join LinkedIn today.

major side note*************************

i was trying to view the profile of a woman i worked with at cnn.

her name is Roshan Khadivi.

i can't remember what she was doing in particular while at cnn, and a few weeks ago, i decided to google her to see what she might have been up to these last few years. i was amazed (though not at all surprised) to find that she was working for UNICEF. and not only that, she is their chief of media and external relations - traveling throughout the middle east, including Afghanistan, where she helps to educate girls and women and immunize children, helping to move the people in that country forward. i only spent a short time with her but i was very impressed by her and felt lucky to have been in her association. i sent her an email the other day to which she responded:

Dear Angie,

I just read your message. What a nice surprise and happy new year.

Are you still in Washington?

All the best,

Roshan

(currently in Jerusalem and heading to Kabul in two days ;-))

ok, totally cool right?*******************

anyway, back to where i started.... i wanted to view her complete profile at LinkedIn. in order to create an account, you have to choose from a drop down menu of these options:

employed, a business owner, looking for work, working independently, a student.

well, i'm employed (i suppose), i'm definitely not a business owner, and i only have to go from room to room in my house to find work. i chose working independently. because, well....most days that is just what i'm doing. i guess i could consider myself a student, but definitely not in the traditional-going-to-school sense of the word.

the next drop down menu gives you many options from which to choose the industry in which you are involved. i assumed somewhere down the line would be something relating to homemaking or childcare or something of the like. there was nothing! granted, it is a networking site for professionals...

so instead i cruised the list, mentally checking off all of the industries in which i'm currently "working independently." my industry choices include things like :

apparel & fashion
banking
computer games (does blogger count?)
cosmetics
dairy (you nursing mothers out there....i've SO been there)
health, wellness & fitness
higher education (a.k.a. scripture study)
internet
leisure & travel
sports
writing & editing

i guess my point is that i'm thankful to not be pigeon-holed into identifying myself as one thing, because motherhood allows me to develop many of my skills. it's a good thing though, that knitting wasn't on that list...i definitely haven't mastered that one yet.

there is a little part of me that wishes i was crusading throughout the world like Roshan. but for now, i am happy to educate, immunize and move my own little population forward.