I know there is wide range of professions among all my readers. Some of you are SAHMs; some of you have home businesses; I know at least one of you is a lawyer (or she will be, once she passes the bar in July :)); one of you is a Visual Presentation Specialist (until she rocks her interview and gets a new job on Monday); security guard, babysitter, teacher. The list goes on!
I am 27 years old and I still have no idea what I want to be. I have Journalism and Crime, Law, & Justice degrees, an English minor, and a Paralegal certificate and my job has absolutely nothing to do with any of those. When I started college in 2000, (holy bonanza Batman! Has it been 9 years already?!) as a Theatre major, none the less, I was sure I was going somewhere HUGE. Instead I'm working in HR in the middle of PA.
And HR is not my dream job, by a long stretch. I don't want to be in HR for the rest of my life. (This should not come as a surprise to you, Mom. (She's my boss and she reads this.)) My problem is I have a hard time figuring out what it is I want to do exactly. I mean, crap, look how many different things I went to school for. I'm all over the place with what interests me. How do I know what is a hobby/general interest and what is career worthy?
If I was given the opportunity to change my life tomorrow and I could pick any career I wanted and not have to worry about money, it would come down to two choices: 1)event planning, or 2)writing.
I love to plan. I loved planning my wedding and I'm loving helping my sister plan hers. I'm currently planning her bridal shower and her bachelorette party and I can't wait to plan her baby shower! If you saw my house you would laugh and say I'm not even organized enough to plan a trip to the bathroom, but I'm surprisingly organized when it comes to planning events.
I don't want to plan weddings though. There is far too much pressure on wedding planners. I would not want to be responsible for the biggest day of someone's life. I want to stick with bridal and baby showers. There is so much you can do with showers. Here's the first baby shower I had a hand in. And here's my baby shower, although this was more my sister, but I helped.
I would love to have my own event planning business.
Writing is my other passion. I would love to be a paid writer. I'm not going to play the humble card here. I'm great at writing. I know I am and I'm very proud of my writing. I would love to freelance.
Actually, I hope to be able to try my hand at freelancing once Stonewall gets home. Right now is just not a good time. I work part-time, I'm a full-time new mommy, and with Stonewall being gone my free time is limited. I know I would not be able to give the time that is necessary for applying for writing jobs, completing the writing jobs should I be lucky enough to get any, along with all that is my life right now. Plus, freelancing can be hard and it could be awhile before I would be paid a decent amount, so I would still need to keep working at my current job.
That being said, I'm looking forward to giving freelance writing a go in a few months.
So, what about all of you? How did you decide on the professions you are in?
23 comments:
I am a chemist, but I am with you. Event planning(besides being a SAHM) would definitely be my dream job if money was no object. I spent four years in college planning everything from Homecoming week to College wide volunteer oppurtunities and I loved it.
Welcome to SITS! It is an excellent community and we are excited to have you!
Hmmmm, I never really just sat down one day and thought about what I was going to be. Al I knew for sure is that whatever I was doing, I was going to be happy. That is more important to me then pursuing a career that may or may not get me somewhere. HOWEVER, in the recent months I've been doing a lot of thinking about what exactly would make me happy and I have found that going back to school is just the ticket. But not just to go, I really want to get into grapic design. I am working towards that but am getting the run around with the G.I benefits and what not. I love to create and I love computers, the Internet, drawing and even the idea of being able to write codes! I'm with you on the writing thing, I love to write. In college I had many teachers pushing me to take a creative writing classes. I think I could be good at it if I molded it a bit more with higher education...
Thanks for the vote of confidence and bringing a smile to my face. I'm having a pity party day, so that helped. :)
I have NO idea what I want to be when I grow up, beyond what happens with my interview, beyond what happens by next year. I think it's awesome that you want to do event planning, I would love to be able to do that. I'm much less organized at home than at work as well. But when it comes to events, I start to plan, get stressed and it turns into a haphazard event.
I never thought I would be a SAHM. I was planning on being an event coordinator for fashion houses/major department stores, but oh how things changed!! but now I wouldn't have it any other way!
Hmm, well I don't have a "profession" just yet, as I'm still in school, but I have recently changed my mind about what my profession will be after I graduate. I'm currently a communication arts/theatre major (we're similar!) but there isn't really a whole lot in that field that interests me anymore. But I'll get my BA in Dec, so I'm finishing it just for the heck of it. After that I'm going to nursing school. I discovered that I wanted to do nursing this summer when I signed up for an A&P class to fulfull a gen.ed. lab science requirement and found out I wasn't awful at it.
Event planning would be so much fun! Definitely pursue what you're passionate about.
Currently, I am not in a profession. I have a BA in Art History, but no masters. Makes it a bit tough to get a job. I'm hoping that at our next duty station I will be close enough to a school that will let me continue my education.
For the time being, I became a substitute teacher. Trust me, not a dream job.
:) Yea for being a writer! I'm a writer! I'm the assistant editor of a local magazine and I'm about to quit, because I'm getting married, and I'm going to freelance. I'm scared about freelancing and just how hard I'm guessing it's going to be, but I know I'll enjoy it. I say, follow your dream! (Just don't steal jobs away from me!)
I don't really know what I want to do. Its always been a toss up between nursing and teaching, but there are so many cons to each of them, that I can never make a concrete decision.
Being a SAHM is something I thought about, sure, but it definitely wasn't something I wanted for when I was 23 and it definitely wasn't because there aren't any jobs available for someone without a college education. :-/ I love it though.
Event planning would be awesome. I get so involved in planning parties and events that it would be a lot of fun, but I'm with you, I could never do a wedding. Eeek!
When I was in college I got worked towards and ended up getting my degree in Criminal Justice. Once I finished college I ended up working in a field that I never thought I would. I didn't enjoy it that much and decided to get out. I finally ended up in the CJ field when I got a federal gov. job. I really enjoy it. I love going to work. Now do I hate the people I have to deal with...yes for the most part but the job itself is really great and my coworkers are really great as well.
My degree collection sounds kinda like yours. I have a BA in Sociology and Creative Writing. I wanted to teach creative writing on the high school level at first then decided against it. My specialization is poetry, so someday I hoped to be published somewhere. I went on to get my master's in Personal Financial Planning and wanted to do Financial Counseling. But since all army posts are in economically depressed areas (or the majority are) it is hard to do that. And it's been 4 years since my MA and I haven't been able to use it once, outside of helping family and friends.
Besides being a SAHM, I volunteer with the spouse's club as the Treasurer and here I have been able to do bookkeeping for the gift shop we run. I love it! I do bookkeeping for my aunt and uncle's small business as well. I would like to continue to do bookkeeping or someday be able to actually do some financial counseling.
I love this post - it's so true! I started college as a music major, switched to political science, applied to a law program, got accepted, left college after year one. When I went back several years later I chose business as my degree because I was working in management at the time. Never finished that either - time and money worked against me! Right now, I'm working as an "office elf" in a construction type office owned by my husband's family. Do I love it? Not always. Am I happy? Not always. Did I ever envision myself here? NO WAY. It's amazing where you end up sometimes! I ask myself all the time - what do I want to be when I grow up? Like you, I'm 27 (for another month at least) and somedays - I really don't know....
When I was young about 5-8, I wanted to be a horse...I think I might have achieved at least the back part ;). Then I wanted to be a professional partier in my teen years. I also did pretty well at that for a while. Then the time came to get a real job or go to college. I opted for college, mainly because I could still party. Turns out, I just became a professional student. Went to several different colleges. One for fashion merchandising (what a joke because I have no fashion sense), another for special education, another for business, another for computers. I didn't receive one diploma. Finally, I became a wife and mother. I'd found my calling. (More the kid thing than the wife thing.) My kids were my world. Still are. I had to work. To give my kids the things I wanted them to have, not because I wanted a profession. Thinking hard about it, I wanted to work with animals (the horse thing again). However, I could not afford to go to school for it and what jobs I could get, just didn't support my two beautiful daughters that I thought deserved the world. Therefore, I fell back on computers and my parents business. Yea, I'm not in a career that I love. But I was able to make things pretty great at home. Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices. It's what we do as parents. Now, my kids are grown and I'm trying to figure out what to do with my spare time. How can I incorporate what I love (other than my kids and grandson) into my life. I'm almost 50....and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
I love your new blog layout!
The job just kinda fell in my lap, and I've stuck with it!
When I was a preteen, I had this crazy notion that I wanted to be a marine biologist. Well I wanted to all thru high school too. Went to college then had kids and continued my education. had more kids and realized my calling was being a SAHM. I love raising my kids. I wouldnt want it any other way. Once they start school themselves, I will revisit the idea of having a career. Until then, I'm having fun being a mom ;)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Dawn
I'm so with you.
I'm getting ready to start my senior year of college and will be graduating with a PR degree. I have No. Idea. what to do with it.
I have a business management degree and since being in new jersey these last few years i have had several jobs in that area and you know what..i hated all of them! I am still trying to figure out what i want to be! I would love to go back to school ...basically if i could get paid ot go to school that would be perfect! But i have no idea what i would go back for. I recently started substitute teaching and am really enjoying that! I would also love to do event planning or writing but yeah it's hard to figure it out! good luck on the writing!
I wanted to be a child care director owning my own downtown center but all of that changed when I met J and realized my life would be based around the military.. Im 24 and still deciding on what it is I want to truly do. No worries :)
I still have NO IDEA what I want to be when I grow up.
and I will be 32 this year.
I have done it all too, HR (which I did not like either) waitress (which I do right now until I find a big girl jjob) I have worked for 3 state agencies.
I just dont know.... My plans are to win the lottery and then volunteer my time to whatever cause needs me!
Oh and why dont you start event planning on the side. AS a "fun" gig while you figure it out.
My mom was a wedding coordinator for 25 years and LOVED it, yeah she got the bridezillas but more often than not it was really fun
I never thought I'd be a SAHM, but here I am! When my DH and I decided to start a family, being a SAHM suddenly became very appealing.
I chose my pre-mom career when I was finishing high school. I have no interest in ever returning to that; I'd love to do something completely different, but we'll see.
I am a SAHM. I went to school to be an Occupational Therapist, but got pregnant right away after and didn't go back.
My real love though is painting, so I'm hoping to do something with that when my littlest is in school full days:)
I didn't really "decide" I sort of just fell into what I do and that just so happens to be HR! HAHA how coincidental!? I like my job though...not my dream job but it helps to pay the bills. I want to hopefully one day go into women's health! I've taken a huge interest in fertility in the last couple of years.
Well, staying home to take care of the kids was never my first plan, but now that they are here, I hope the day never comes that I have to leave them to their own devices. That said, life moves on and I intend to write a novel that I actually publish in the coming years. Writing is really the only thing that has ever held me.
As a back up plan, however, if needed, I will teach. It was what I had originally planned on doing when I was earning my B.A. I love, love teaching, and to teach writing would be my first pick. Barring that, it will be high school English, which is close enough.
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