Walt Jacobs is Dean of the College of Social Sciences & Professional Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Prior to assuming that position he was a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, and before that he was an electrical engineer. While an undergraduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology he ignored the call of non-engineering careers, and walked a narrow pathway he established for himself in high school. In graduate school he began paying attention to sociological ghosts, the invisible collective forces that have strong influences on individual decisions. While a young professor he began to identify as a “quirkyalone,” a person who prefers being single to dating just for the sake of dating. Now also a “quirkytogether,” Jacobs will discuss how a new pathway emerged that enabled him to acknowledge a true vocation, and will share tips about how others can do the same.