[Rainbowgirl]

I have to agree with the posters who aren't overtly encouraging you to go for what you love. I mean, yes go for it, but be option to other avenues that encompass what you love.

For example, from as early as I can remember I wanted to be an Egyptologist and an archeologist. I loved ancient Egypt and I loved ancient cultures in general. I also wanted to study theology (not just Abrahamic religions but others too). Those were (and to some degree still are) my passions. But what type of job opportunities are there as an Egyptologist? Not many. It's also tiring work struggling for funding for pretty much everything. Same with archeology and theology. They're incredibly interesting to me, but in order for me to have the things I want, they won't be able to pay for them.

It's all well and good to be doing something you love, but I'd also like to be doing something I enjoy while being able to afford housing and having a stable job future.

I went into medical transcription because I thought I could use it as a stepping stone later on and that I would really enjoy it. I got to sit around on the computer all day and type. How cool! Six years in and I hate it. It doesn't pay nearly enough, we're being outsourced at the end of the year, and I've gained 50 pounds since starting this job and I'm just not happy. What happened? I don't know - I grew up, I guess. My personality changed a bit, I evolved. Even if I -LOVED- this job (which I did), the reward wasn't good enough.

So, I'm going back to school to hopefully become a respiratory therapist with a Bachelor's degree in Health Sciences. That will give me the things important to me:
- Stable job opportunities.
- Room for variety (I can work in a sleep clinic, an elder's care home, the Emergency Department, become an anesthesia assistant, or teach).
- Excellent pay (making $20K more a year in my first year than at the job I've been at for 6 years).
- Interactive and hands-on with patients but not to the degree of a nurse.
- Active, being constantly on the go rather than sitting at a computer for 8 hours.

Will I love it? Maybe. Maybe only sometimes. But it gives me everything I do love ALL the time, so the times I don't like the job won't matter much because the rewards will be greater.

I don't think Vex is saying to choose something you don't like just because the money is better - but to be realistic. When I first got this job, I thought I could afford $1400/month for rent because hey, I'm getting $2100/month. Now I know, with my car, my cell phone, my cable bill, I can only afford $700/month, and with the dog, only $600/month.

Definitely choose a field you enjoy and investigate the various avenues within that field you could go in to.

I knew I wanted to stay in health care. I love helping people, I love being in the hospital (as an employee, not a patient lol), and I love biology and science in general as long as it doesn't involved math (lol). I knew I didn't want to be a nurse or a doctor. I wanted something clinical, not clerical. I'm not great with needles to a lab tech wouldn't be for me plus the pay isn't that much better. I considered being a cardio technologist, and while the difference in pay between that and a respiratory therapist is only $1/hr, and the schooling is only a third of what it takes to be an RT, there's also no room for variation. It's a job, not a career. So that was out.

Never close your mind off to other possibilities, too. You're still so young - you have an entire lifetime to figure it out. Most people don't stay in the same career their entire lives these days, so don't worry if what you want to do now isn't what you want to do when you're 20. Just try to get the GENERAL idea of what you want, and go from there

[sacha]

IMO there is always a balance... do what you love, with realism.

If I had no career concerns after, I would've majored in classical studies. Instead, I did teaching English as a second language (allowed for travel but very employable).

If you love fitness, there are so many great options:
Kinesiology
Dietician* (as opposed to nutritionist)
Physical Therapist*
PE Teacher
Business (THIS is a critical focus for a potential personal trainer)

If I were you, young & eager to start, I would be sure to take some business (marketing, advertising) alone with the core components of physical sciences -> a guidance counselor will have more good info for you.

Good luck!

[Ookpik]

I agree with some of the others...do something you enjoy but be realistic about options after you graduate. I am a university student, and if I studied what I am really good at academically, I would have a business degree and be an accountant. That's not for me, so I am actually working on my bachelor of social work degree, which interests me a lot more. Job prospects are good where I live (in a rural northern area with a high Aboriginal population) and salaries are pretty good. I want to go on in a few years and get my joint masters/law degree and work as a human rights attorney.

BUT...my dream has always been to be a police officer/pilot, which is what motivated me to lose 100 pounds in the first place, and for awhile I was a police recruit. I got deferred a year and was encouraged to reapply, but I went back to school instead. I am glad the force doesn't have an age limit, and I may try again someday. I will have a job (they post you to one of their detachments [like precincts] when you graduate) that will pay less starting out than my social work job will, but still enough to live on. If that dream doesn't happen, well, at least I'll still have my education to fall back on, which, while not being my ultimate dream, is something I can still be passionate about and love doing.

[SweetPeach3388]

I would be the first person here to stand up and say study something you love, but I also know that you have to be realistic (as many others have stated). I went to a private liberal arts college and I studied Liberal Studies in the Great Books (which is basically philosophy, literature, history, and theology all together--it is the classical liberal arts education in a nutshell). Yes, I could have gone to a state school and saved money, but I chose to go to the college I went to because I lived at home and saved over $10,000 per year and I had a decent academic scholarship. Then, I was just lucky enough to go into college undeclared and discover a major I truly loved (which is offered at less than 10 universities in the US).

BUT, I did all of this knowing I wanted to continue on after undergrad. I knew I wanted to go to law school. I'm now a 2L and I absolutely love law school. The job market is tough right now, as with almost everything, but people are always going to need lawyers. The downside is that law school is very expensive, but I'm getting my Juris Doctorate and you get what you pay for and work for.

Basically, being realistic can look different for everyone and I maintain that you should choose something you love to do. You just need to have a plan, goals, and a clear understanding of what you can accomplish with your chosen degree. If the prospects don't fit into what you really want from life, then you need to reevaluate, but eventually you will find your way!

[Heather]

I'm a professor at a small college and I have this conversation with advisees all the time. In many cases, a college degree in and of itself can be an entree into a job -- a liberal arts degree is teaching communication and critical thinking skills which can translate into many professions. Not to mention the things you do outside the classroom -- e.g., leadership opportunities, study abroad. So you may be able to study what you love in college but then be more realistic when it comes to getting a job. But you have to think that the "degree" isn't the same as the "major".

[dragonwoman64]

I agree that people nowadays are much more likely to change, sometimes completely change, fields once maybe more during the course of their working years. I'd suggest talking to people already established doing what you have an interest in doing. You'd be surprised how willing many professionals can be to give you insight and tips. A mentor is an extremely valuable thing.

Money is much easier to do without when you're younger and starting out. I've found what I need and want as far as working and a job is concerned, has evolved.

[ErBear]

That sounds great! It's always wonderful to be able to do something professionally that you genuinely care about and can relate to. Good luck!