In light of family expectations, finances, personal interests, and all your surrounding circumstances, how did you decide on the educational and career path that you wanted to pursue? How did you juggle everything you chose to take into account? What was your thought process throughout your decision-making?
How did you decide what you wanted to do?
- Thread starter barbad0s
- Start date
I fell into it. I was halfway to a PhD when I landed a teaching fellowship. It was important to me to be good at teaching because I knew what a terrible experience a college class could be if the instructor wasn't good. So, I researched methods, spent hours figuring out how to present, discuss, create activities, real life applications and made the subject matter interesting. I was a finalist in the student choice instructor award that year. I realized that I loved it more than doing research because it was very much like combining acting and knowledge, two things I loved. I was hooked.
If you don't mind me asking, what is your PhD in and what do you generally teach? And, how did you come to decide to pursue studies in that area? Don't feel pressured to answer if it feels too public.
While I had many talents there seemed to be two gifts that stuck out with me:
1. People easily and freely talked to me and would accept my help and acceptance.
2. I excelled at Biology and Chemistry and to some degree - Math.
My dream in life was to own my own land and have horses, cats, and dogs.
At the time I graduated from high school a Counselor - or a person with a Psychology degree was making about $10K a year....on the other hand... a Chemical Engineer would probably graduate with a salary of around $20K a year (which was pretty high in those days)
My heart wanted psychology and counseling because I naturally excelled at that.....but my dream was too expensive for it....so I chose Chem E.
I only lasted three years in Chemical Engineering. I was the 3rd female chemical engineer ARCO had ever hired at their largest refinery in Houston TX. I endured a lot of harassment and humiliation the entire time while pushing myself beyond my wildest dreams doing dangerous stuff.
I don't know what to tell you. While terribly painful and scarring - the engineering education and experience I received was priceless. Of course that was then....and this is now.
For you...I'd say you've already been pushing your self into situations to allow you to grow.
Listen to your heart.
Read a list of possible degrees out loud to your self. Pause after each one...and see how your gut feels. Feel how your heart is beating.
See if there is one that stands out to you.
If there is...go with it.
1. People easily and freely talked to me and would accept my help and acceptance.
2. I excelled at Biology and Chemistry and to some degree - Math.
My dream in life was to own my own land and have horses, cats, and dogs.
At the time I graduated from high school a Counselor - or a person with a Psychology degree was making about $10K a year....on the other hand... a Chemical Engineer would probably graduate with a salary of around $20K a year (which was pretty high in those days)
My heart wanted psychology and counseling because I naturally excelled at that.....but my dream was too expensive for it....so I chose Chem E.
I only lasted three years in Chemical Engineering. I was the 3rd female chemical engineer ARCO had ever hired at their largest refinery in Houston TX. I endured a lot of harassment and humiliation the entire time while pushing myself beyond my wildest dreams doing dangerous stuff.
I don't know what to tell you. While terribly painful and scarring - the engineering education and experience I received was priceless. Of course that was then....and this is now.
For you...I'd say you've already been pushing your self into situations to allow you to grow.
Listen to your heart.
Read a list of possible degrees out loud to your self. Pause after each one...and see how your gut feels. Feel how your heart is beating.
See if there is one that stands out to you.
If there is...go with it.
the thing i love doing has no monetary value, and im not very good at anything else. i chose to study library and archival services because it seemed like something i could actually do, and it seemed like it would give me a secure future, and it seemed like it would do a service to society without hurting anyone.
I'll let you know when i figure that out. 
But seriously, this is something i've thought a bit about, so allow me to expatiate for a moment:
My choice as far as education and career was pragmatic; I knew there were jobs in the field, stable career for the most part, it paid pretty well, and I liked it okay and was decent at it (I won't go as far to say as it was my passion or i'm a natural at it, because neither of those are entirely true.)
I will say however, and i think it's important to realize, that work does not necessarily need to define life or identity. Sure, it's important to do something you like and are okay with, as about a third or more of your waking hours are spent working during most the week. However, it's not the end-all be-all of your identity or activities. You have hobbies and other things you do outside work.
Some say/believe "do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." However, I believe for most of us that's a largely romantic and fanciful idea. Sure, it sounds great, but for most of us, we don't have one consuming passion, and, even if we did, it may not make the best career or provide the kind of lifestyle we desire. That being said, I know some people that do have one (major) passion, pursued it as a career, and are loving it and doing well off it. I'll have to be honest and say i'm envious of those.
For most of us however, it's not that cut-and-dry. I read something once (and although it was a bit of a generalization) that stuck with me; it went something like this:
"A man largely needs three things to be happy and content: Something to keep him occupied and earn him money [a job], Something to keep him active and healthy, and Something to keep him creative and inspired."
But seriously, this is something i've thought a bit about, so allow me to expatiate for a moment:
My choice as far as education and career was pragmatic; I knew there were jobs in the field, stable career for the most part, it paid pretty well, and I liked it okay and was decent at it (I won't go as far to say as it was my passion or i'm a natural at it, because neither of those are entirely true.)
I will say however, and i think it's important to realize, that work does not necessarily need to define life or identity. Sure, it's important to do something you like and are okay with, as about a third or more of your waking hours are spent working during most the week. However, it's not the end-all be-all of your identity or activities. You have hobbies and other things you do outside work.
Some say/believe "do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." However, I believe for most of us that's a largely romantic and fanciful idea. Sure, it sounds great, but for most of us, we don't have one consuming passion, and, even if we did, it may not make the best career or provide the kind of lifestyle we desire. That being said, I know some people that do have one (major) passion, pursued it as a career, and are loving it and doing well off it. I'll have to be honest and say i'm envious of those.
For most of us however, it's not that cut-and-dry. I read something once (and although it was a bit of a generalization) that stuck with me; it went something like this:
"A man largely needs three things to be happy and content: Something to keep him occupied and earn him money [a job], Something to keep him active and healthy, and Something to keep him creative and inspired."
agree with @rawr, it's not always about the career but what else you have going on in your life. My career was automatic because it's what my education prepared me for. It made the best use of my educational background but it wasn't the best fit for my personality. I used hobbies and interests such as reading, writing, and producing creative projects to balance me. If I depended on my career to provide the complete fulfillment of who I am, I would not be happy, much less sane. Work-life balance is just as important as career choice because jobs and careers can change.
- Sep 28, 2008
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I went to school for marketing because I'm good at it and the concept is fun as hell but corporate asshats make it into witchcraft and devilry so I said fuck that noise and started writing because everyone says they want to write a book, well I'm doing it.
Live your life the way you want. There is no reset button.
Live your life the way you want. There is no reset button.
I am 26 and still have no idea. I would say since you are younger pursue your dreams and don't let anyone or anything hold you back. I allowed others in my life to pressure me into something I had no heart for and fully regret the last four years. Do what makes you happy regardless of money or status. In the end you don't take any of that with you anyways.
I don't know yet... It makes me anxious to even think about it. .__. I agree with [MENTION=7970]Love_Conquers_All[/MENTION] though, listen to your heart and follow your dreams. Don't let others decide it for you and stop you from doing what you really want.
@Kgal
Thanks for your response
I brought up the topic because I feel I'm sort of on my path now. Just got curious about how others chose theirs~
Oh?
Which did you choose for now?
My best advice for you would be just to go experiment and figure out what you do and don't like doing. You never know if there is something you might discover that you love but haven't tried yet. I'm on a similar path that [MENTION=12050]Superlative[/MENTION] mentioned. I'm about to graduate from my undergrad, and I start grad school next year to get my PHD. In the end, I want to teach, but I would have never known just how much I wanted to do that had I not signed myself up to get a second job as a tutor.
Also, don't let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing. If I had let other people tell me what to do with my career, I would be in pharmacy school right now but after taking CHEM 1110 I realized that wasn't the path I needed to take. I also really dislike dealing with stupid people, so in the end that might have turned out to be a frustrating career for me.
Also, don't let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing. If I had let other people tell me what to do with my career, I would be in pharmacy school right now but after taking CHEM 1110 I realized that wasn't the path I needed to take. I also really dislike dealing with stupid people, so in the end that might have turned out to be a frustrating career for me.
Tin Man
"a respectable amount of screaming"
It was easy. I wanted to be an optometrist so I killed one and took his place
Seriously, I never really decided. I did a B.A. in college in order to teach, but couldn't stand it. After that I worked as a librarian, customer sales rep, tutor, data analyst and then went into IT which I find interesting enough. My thought process went something like "I'm hungry - I need a job. Now I'm bored of this job so I'm going to leave it. I'm hungry again, so I need another job." Not the best pattern to follow.
Seriously, I never really decided. I did a B.A. in college in order to teach, but couldn't stand it. After that I worked as a librarian, customer sales rep, tutor, data analyst and then went into IT which I find interesting enough. My thought process went something like "I'm hungry - I need a job. Now I'm bored of this job so I'm going to leave it. I'm hungry again, so I need another job." Not the best pattern to follow.
I went to college thinking I'd major in econ or something. I hated econ and switched to philosophy. I thought I was smart enough to do a Ph.D. or go to law school, and majoring in philosophy is fine for those things. I decided those weren't good options my junior year and had a WTF AM I DOING moment. I wanted to not have anything but a "worthless" philosophy degree to market myself with, so I started looking into business/finance programs. I somehow got it in my mind to do public administration, and even when I take career tests, they tell me that I should be a civil servant. It seemed like a more INFJ friendly version of business administration.
So now I have a masters degree in public administration and no job. Yay.
As you can see, I'm good at making decisions.
So now I have a masters degree in public administration and no job. Yay.
As you can see, I'm good at making decisions.
This. You will make mistakes or change your mind along the way. Things over which you have no control may change, and you will be further challenged. This is called "growth". Better to have finished the ride and looked back on your life with satisfaction than to "...have measured your life out with coffee spoons..." and be filled with regrets!
I think it's perfectly normal for people to change Their mind about what they wanna do with their life at least once. Everyone just has a different way of finding it out. When you think about it, there really isn't a right or wrong way to find out what you want to do with your life. Your path is your path and not anyone else's. Besides, you never know if your thinking that you want to do one thing may lead you to a place where you are exposed to something better for you personally.
