Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were younger (which may not be that long ago for some of y'all!)? I always think back to how different my professional life turned out compared to what I thought I would be doing. It's funny how that happens. I know some people that just always knew what they wanted to do...and they are currently living that dream! It seems like I hear this a lot amongst my teacher friends and my nurse friends. I think you definitely have to have a passion for both of those careers, so it makes sense that they have careers in areas they were already passionate about at a young age.
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| Who wouldn't want to be Batman?! |
I enjoy being a lawyer...it's interesting and very challenging...but I don't know that I would say I am "passionate" about it. I mean, one can only be so passionate about corporate and securities law;) When I was young, or really all the way through my first couple years of college, I thought for sure I would go in to the medical field. I actually thought a lot about being an OBGYN or possibly a vet. I think both of those areas of medicine seem very rewarding. I loved the idea of bringing new life in to the world every day and of course since I love animals so much, a career in veterinarian medicine seemed like an obvious choice. Then I discovered one little problem. I don't like blood so much. Ha! When I worked in surgery a couple summers during my undergrad years I got queasy pretty often, especially if it was something out of the ordinary. (I remember once when a guy had to have his leg amputated during an emergency surgery and I thought I was going to pass out.) It just didn't appeal to me as much after that experience. I can't stand to see animals in any sort of pain or suffering, so that made the veterinarian route problematic as well. Needless to say, I ended up going in a different direction and majored in health care administration, which then led to law school, and now has me working for a health care company. I'm still in health care per se, but not on the actual medical side.
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| I probably wanted to be all of these things at some point or another |
Still though, I often wonder what would have been had I chosen another direction, or maybe if I had just stuck it out a little longer. Maybe I would have gotten over my fears and it would have become second nature. (Not that watching someone's leg sawed off would ever become second nature.)
What about y'all? Are you doing what you always thought you would be doing, or are you doing something completely different? Are you happy with your career? Or maybe you are a stay at home mom. Was becoming a mom always your lifelong dream? Would you do things different if you could go back?
Oh, and for what it's worth...if I could do things over, I would probably go the teaching route, but at the college level. I would love to be a professor.
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| Linus got it right:-) |
Oh, and for what it's worth...if I could do things over, I would probably go the teaching route, but at the college level. I would love to be a professor.
2 comments:
Deep thoughts this morning Leanne! I NEVER thought I would end up teaching, but I am loving it. I love natural medicine but the licensure was a bigger issue than I ever imagined it to be, so by teaching I can pass on knowledge to more people than I could have helped in private practice. It doesn't mean that I am not always thinking of how to still practice, but for right now I feel like I am on the right path. There are times when I wish I had made different decisions (mostly for financial reasons & the med school loans I face) but I am a believer that everything happens for a reason. I feel like careers are more fluid for our generation, we seem to have a constant need to learn more and experience more, which often comes with changing what we are doing. Plus, it is never to late to change, I had people in their 60s in my med school class. But know you are not alone, I think most of us just don't put it out there. So way to go by sharing so openly!
I didn't even know hospitals/healthcare systems had marketing departments until after I graduated college....so this was definitely never my "dream!" I definitely love the creativity side of marketing, but also the strategic side. I work for a great company that has offered me several great opportunities and have made some fabulous friends along the way, so I'd say that I'm happy...just not doing my dream job (which I don't even know what that is!!) I always thought I wanted to be a wedding/event planner, but I don't do work on weekends, so that would never work! Ha! I also think it would be fun to own a stationery store or a baby/gift boutique...but I'm sure there are plenty of challenges that come along with that as well! Not sure if I'll ever figure out what I want to be when I grow up, so I'm just enjoying the ride for now! :)
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