Choosing a Career

I had the opportunity to sit in on a therapy session for a family member recently and a piece of advice they were given applies here.

The ship is sinking. Well, their ship was sinking, yours is sailing, but at any rate, you have to make a choice. You have to pick which lifeboat you will get in. You can take some time to determine which one is best, but in your case, all will carry you to your destination, or at least your next step, but you do have to choose or the ship will sail. I know it’s scary to close doors and at this point in your life, you have lots of doors open, but you can’t walk through them all and you don’t get anywhere if you don’t walk through at least one or two. Some will lock behind you, but most won’t and many will remain open whatever you choose. And in time you’ll probably see that whatever drawbacks your choice do bring, you probably would still do it the same way.
 
My husband was an engineer. Dad sent him to colledge. He didnt like studying, but Dad said that engineers have good job and salary. After college, he worked in construction company. But the work didnt bring him joy. He's worked as an engineer for two years. And one day he decided to turn the life around. He enrolled in the course of QA testers
https://sqasolution.com/ Has changed specialization and now works as a tester. Surprisingly, he earns more than an engineer and he likes this job! And I'm glad to see him when he's in a good mood after work.

Dont be afraid of change. Without change, you dont know what is better for you!
 
My husband was an engineer. Dad sent him to colledge. He didnt like studying, but Dad said that engineers have good job and salary. After college, he worked in construction company. But the work didnt bring him joy. He's worked as an engineer for two years. And one day he decided to turn the life around. He enrolled in the course of QA testers
https://sqasolution.com/ Has changed specialization and now works as a tester. Surprisingly, he earns more than an engineer and he likes this job! And I'm glad to see him when he's in a good mood after work.

Dont be afraid of change. Without change, you dont know what is better for you!
I'm not the OP, but I needed to hear this. I'll be changing jobs soon and it's scary
 
@Kusanar Good luck with the job change. Change is always hard, but all you can do, is do your best and try your hardest. As long as you stay true to yourself, you are golden.

Don't let the fear of change tie you down, because I can guarantee that change will happen. What if's can be the quicksand of life and stop you from trying and maybe succeeding.

I know a person who was afraid of going away to college, so they lived at home and commuted to the local college. Then got scared of declaring a major, because what if they didn't like the one they picked - so they dropped out of school completely. Got a job at a factory, someone there didn't like them and was mean - so lets quit that job. It is now to the point of a 26 year-old, living in the parents basement, working temp jobs to make a little money to pay a little bit for rent, have internet service, buy a computer and games. Quitting has become their way of life and they have no prospects of doing any better because of their fear of failure.

I wanted to be an engineer - that was not to be. But I am a damn good engineering technician. I have had many different jobs in my lifetime - it seems that as soon as I find a job that I really like and am good at, my partner decides to change jobs and we move. I have learned to just keep plugging along and doing what I need to do. I worked jobs that I hated, because it paid the rent and the grocery bill. I try to keep my eyes open for opportunities and let me tell you, they are not always easy to see.
 
I was given some words of wisdom by a very wise woman when I was younger...maybe these words will help you as well.

* If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life.

* The only constant is change.

* Blueprints of life should only be sketched in pencil.

(My all-time favorite)
* You may not be able to control the direction of the wind, but you can always adjust your sails.
 
That's the thing...

I only have 1 year of nursing classes until I get my ASN, which is solely actual nursing related classes, skills, and clinicals. (But I have been out of classes for half a year, so I feel like I have forgotten a lot too) So I feel like its a waste to not just toughen up and finish, with at least my ASN. The working 3 days a week was also a major plus. It will be great to have, but it's a lot of time and money to put in, when I might just hate it or get too overwhelmed with it all. The brain side of me says it's dumb not to finish.

I have worked in a Nursing Home doing clinicals when I was getting my CNA license. And I worked as a CNA making home visits and sitting with my teachers elderly mother. I loved it, but was to small to confidently move, assist, or lift most of the people in the Nursing home. I just didn't think I could do it efficiently enough to be left alone with a really dependent person. Low self confidence probably doesn't help that either.

But I have way more confidence in myself when it pertains to animals. Maybe that's why I keep considering something in another field, animals are the only thing I know I am capable of no matter what the job.

The vet assistant/vet tech route- I assisted with one surgery last week, a deer dog beagle that accidentally stumbled up on a wild hog. Tore the poor things chest to pieces and peirced straight to the lungs. But I absolutely loved getting to be that hands on and helping out. Only two minutes in, and I told her she has ruined the med field for me because I already fell in love with the vet work. But is it worth it to go into that if I will barely be making a living? I mean how much is it to live? When I don't even know what part of the country I will end up in.

I guess it's easier with an animal, an actual humans life is a much greater risk and that is the part that scared me about nursing. My pharmacology class for nursing was pretty much a whole semester learning how many ways there are to injure or kill someone on accident. I guess they do it meaning to scare you enough to quit, but let me tell you, it really did work on me.

The vet tech would be great to go towards a boarding/training kennel in the future. I am really hoping I can visit those sheepdog kennels for at least a few days, sometime soon. But that is something that will take a few years of working and saving before that's an option. And it will have to be after I decide where I want to live, because if I am taking the time to set up a kennel and facility, I will be there forever.

Your answers are there. I hear your passion about working in the vet field.

My daughter loved animals (which she got from rural raised me).

We did everything we could on our 1/3 acre to give her experience. We did Guide Dogs for the Blind (7 projects), chickens, and gardening.

She went to the local community college and got her degree as a Vet Tech (EXCELLENT program btw). She worked at a local clinic for about 5 years. She loved it, though it didn't pay a lot, it was enough for her needs.

More importantly, it gave her the skills for farming she uses every day. She met and married a young man who is an organic farmer, and they now are living the farm life.

She tends the animals while he focuses on the plants. Her knowledge of animal husbandry from Vet Tech school is invaluable. Her med knowledge also invaluable because, as a farming wife, living out in farm land, she can treat animals and her family as a first line of defense before going to (or being able to get to) a vet or a doctor. That saves a lot of money as well as helping to keep herd, flock and family healthier.

They have to work hard, and sometimes money is tight, but they absolutely love what they are doing and wouldn't do anything else.

Vet Tech is emerging and the pay is getting better. In my area, veterinarians have flooded the market, and it is hard to get a vet job. But a good Vet Tech is valued and needed.

You can get better pay at different facilities. Working at an emergency clinic will give you better pay as will working in a research facility. Being a vet tech doesn't mean working in an animal clinic or farm clinic. There are other areas too.

I say get your Vet Tech degree, then use those skills for a job to fund your farm, then use those skills to run your farm.

LofMc
Proud momma of a farmer, proud grandma of a farmer to be
 
Lady of McCamley I really needed to hear that. Thank you for taking the time to share.

The more I sit here and type it all out, the more I realize I think I have already made up my mind. So glad I finally decided to post about it, because I have been putting it off for weeks now. Y'all have all helped me so much, more than y'all know.

Right now I am #1 on the phlebotomy course waiting list. So if anyone drops, I am in. So I have decide that if the small chance that I actually get into the program, I will take it and get my phlebotomy certificate in the spring 2018. That will give me something quick, that I can use until I find something else or decide to just stick with that for a while. That is something I can do that I wouldn't mind the work. I am fine with taking stuff out the body, just scared to put stuff back in. So I will be comfortable with that work.

Unless I happen to get into phlebotomy and end up loving it and want to move on, I highly doubt I will go back and finish nursing. It might happen if I can get over the nerves, but small chance. And I know if I am that worried about it every day, I will enjoy the pay check, but I am not going to enjoy the actual work. So I have finally decided the money is just not worth it.

If I do get into phlebotomy next semester, it is only a one day a week night class. So I will have plenty of spare time to hopefully be able to work as a vet assistant, or at a boarding, grooming, or training facility. Just depending on what I can find. That will leave me with a phlebotomy back up degree, and give me more experience with the other ideas.

If I don't get into phlebotomy next semester, I have decided to either:

1. try to get a job at one of the above mentioned facilities until I figure it out from there

2. Work then go move off in the fall and get into a vet tech program, my area doesn't have one but I would be happy moving for something with structure like that

3. I may just sign up for early childhood education classes next semester. Just so I will still be attending classes and not wasting time taking another semester off school. I'm going to try to job shadow my aunts that are kindergarten-first grade teachers. I love that age kids, and I think I might like it. Especially since it pays better than phlebotomy or vet tech. And would still give me plenty time off to do maybe even work as a vet assistant during the weekends or breaks, at least until I am ready to build up the farm. Then there would be plenty time to do my farming once it is built up. It's sounding like a pretty good option, I will see how the job shadowing goes.

When I start typing things out, it starts making more sense to me. So I might be repeating things over and over, and then changing my mind, but it's helping in the long run to write everything out I think.
 
3. I may just sign up for early childhood education classes next semester. Just so I will still be attending classes and not wasting time taking another semester off school. I'm going to try to job shadow my aunts that are kindergarten-first grade teachers. I love that age kids, and I think I might like it. Especially since it pays better than phlebotomy or vet tech. And would still give me plenty time off to do maybe even work as a vet assistant during the weekends or breaks, at least until I am ready to build up the farm. Then there would be plenty time to do my farming once it is built up. It's sounding like a pretty good option, I will see how the job shadowing goes.
One thing, my husband is a teacher, I don't know about little kids, but he teaches high school and middle school kids. He has to go in on weekends sometimes, has stayed at work until 9pm or later trying to get caught up on grading, he has been sent out of state for conferences during the summer months when he is supposed to be off work... So, talk to your relatives and be sure that with the little ones that you really do get all of that time off because my husband doesn't get nearly as much "off" as you would think, even when he's not AT work, he's on his laptop making tests and grading exams.
 
He is tough! I would never be able to do anything above maybe second grade. Kids are mean these days, I would probably be a crying mess after a day with higschoolers haha.

And like you said, the older grade teachers always seem to have meetings, conferences, grading, test making etc. That is another one of the main reasons I want to stick with the younger ages.

I guess it's another job that sounds great at the time, but is a lot harder than it seems. I want to try and job shadow enough that I know for sure I will love it. Just the thought of chasing a group of 5 year olds around for the next 5+ years wears me out haha. Hoping I can stop by one day next week and see how it goes.
 

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