What Do I Desire?
This story begins my senior year of high school. I went to a technical school where there were no sports. Starting my junior year, I was tasked on deciding what area I wanted to specialize in. My school provided students the opportunity to pick an area like medical assisting, culinary, automotive, optometry, photography, etc. and when we graduate we’re able to enter the workforce right away if we choose.
So, of course, I chose to specialize in the same vocation as my best friend so we could be in the same classes. The funny thing is, we attended the same elementary/middle school, high school, chose the same technical program, and eventually would be attending the same college. Going back to high school, I then became stuck in pharmacy classes. Long story short, I spent many hours in clinicals and classes that I despised but nevertheless, I eventually graduated with my Pharmacy Technician certification.
Did I ever actually use that knowledge and enter that workforce? To my mother’s distaste, no I didn’t.
Yeah, being a certified pharmacy technician is a great advantage to have straight out of high school, and it could open doors for me to eventually be making a lot of money. But I hated the work and could never see myself pushing the pill epidemic on society. According to Pharmacy Times, Pharmacists have a higher-than-average suicide rate, and a 20% higher-than-average incidence of substance abuse. The job isn’t as great as it’s projected and many pharmacists report being “burnt out,” which ultimately leads to lack of compassion for patients and the job they do.
Fast forward to the beginning of my freshman year of college, I was excited and scared for change and was hoping to discover something I was passionate about. I’ve always wanted to help people, and growing up the medical field was urged and talked about at family gatherings and with my parents. And again, the pay is great.
So, I opted to try Public Health out and discovered, for me at least, that being a science major and being a freshman in college did not mix. I was put on academic warning my first semester, and when explaining it to my family I blamed it all on the fact that I hated Bio 1 and a medical career was not for me. I could not be in school that long, and there are other professions that help people outside of medicine.
If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have gone to college. Personally, I think twelve years of my life sitting in a classroom is enough. From my experience and the experience of friends, having a bachelors degree today is now the new high school diploma. Society wants more from the workforce. You graduate college and hiring companies require 3 years of experience, for their ‘entry-level’ job position. Which I know, the experience is important, but many students can’t balance working a job where you make money and one that doesn’t pay you anything but gives you experience. Add in the homework and trying to have a social life too. Talk about anxiety and headaches.
Today I’m in my last semester of college striving to graduate in December with a degree in Communication and a minor in journalism. I went with a major that gave me a lot of room for changing my mind, and one that no one knows what it’s for. I always get asked, “So what are you gonna do with that?” And I always return with a shrug and an uneasy smile.
I’m not stuck in a degree that I dislike, but I don’t have any need to pursue a career in Public Relations or anything relative of the Communication degree. I chose this major because I can graduate with it and apply to basically any job, aside from law or medicine. As long as employers see I have a bachelors and the skills they require.
Ever since I was little I had people in my life telling me what I should do when I become an adult. What university I should go to, what career I should get, how much money I should be making, and even the type of person I should date. I guess most people in life are trying to find stability and comfort with these type of things — but I feel going the safe route is mundane.
The typical picket fence house in suburbia, the rat race commute to-and-from work, the soccer mom activities, or cooking meals for my husband while making sure we all have enough money to go Disney World… No, thanks.
As a first-generation college student, I know that my parents just want me to be financially secure and not have to live paycheck to paycheck. But many times having that 9 to 5 job in a cubical with a great salary isn’t what brings people happiness. Many parents encourage this working lifestyle that they have themselves and push it onto their kids, but they aren’t even satisfied because they don’t have a work and life balance. So, why waste your time being unhappy just for the money? Like philosopher Alan Watts said, “ Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.”
This money agenda for many students is detrimental. They go to school, whether they want to or not, and pick a profession that is acceptable in society and that is impressive financially. People don’t want to struggle with money, that is understandable, but these people who have these creative passions for writing, music, or art don’t give these dreams a chance to make money. I think the bravest and scariest thing you can do is to do what you love. Failure and struggle are bound to happen regardless of what you do in life, so I think it’s important to stop listening to what others expect from you and start doing what makes you happy.
Look at how it worked out for Dr. Seuss, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, or even Sylvester Stallone. They all struggled with what they wanted to do and ended up as successful self-starters doing what the “impossible.”
That being said, stop being “realistic.” Before when friends would tell me an unconventional idea or passion that they wanted to pursue I would think, “Well, that’s unrealistic. How are they going to make money relying on that?” And I didn’t even realize that I did this so often that I held myself back from so many opportunities to do what I love. Encourage those bizarre ideas and passions, because too soon will people stop chasing them.
