Since apparently I'm not the only one facing a career-related dilemma I thought I'd throw out some more thoughts on the topic.
I'm in a similar situation as Mandy (see her comment below) regarding early childhood ed. I enjoy it, I'm pretty good at it, but is it enough? Could I teach pre-school for the next 20 years & be genuinely satisfied & happy? & like Kim (see her post below) what if I get the radiology certification & then end up in a health care situation I don't want to be in? While I could almost certainly get a job in radiology (& honestly, that is one of the main draws), & I would probably be reasonable happy with the work, what if I ended up at a hospital instead of a clinic & work hours as weird as N's?
The problem for both these options, for me at least, is that they feel like settling. I've already had one job that I worked strictly for the money, & I was never more miserable in my life. I could probably be reasonably happy in either childcare or a health care field, but is that enough? Is it fair to put my family deeper into debt by racking up more student loans & go after the master's degree with very few job options (if any) available? Is it time for me to just grow up already & do the responsible thing & go after employment instead of a dream job?
My mom stumbled into her career out of necessity, & ended up being very successful & happy in it, so I know that sometimes doing what you need to do can lead to doing what you want...
Honestly, part of me feels a little selfish for mourning the loss of a dream career when I know how lucky I am in the rest of my life. Is it really fair to want it all? Or should we be satisfied with all we already have?
Hey lady, I think you have every right to want to have a career you enjoy! Like you said - you were making boatloads of money and you were miserable before. With your intense love of animals, what about something animal related? I've thought about that, however, I don't know how I'd handle the bad things that could happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I wish I had something better to say. I'm faced with the whole "making a little more then just enough to cover daycare" thing, so I'm trying to figure out what's going to make sense for us, too. sigh.
Well this is just a thought...but I really thought that I would like teaching preschool, so I got a job as a teacher's aid with our school system. I liked it, but don't think I could do it for the rest of my life. So, I have given up and am staying home. I am glad I did that, because if I had not I would probably be back in school getting my masters in early childhood ed...and I just wouldn't enjoy it. I love kids, I love playing with kids, but getting 25 3, 4 and 5 year olds to listen and understand directions...well that is just not my cup of tea.
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