I don’t know what to do with my life anymore and my parents want me to be employed in a stable career and these are what they consider stable. I like computers and I like anatomy. But computer science, coding, all this seems so alien to me. I can barely even comprehend at this point what those things are. What if I can’t do it? At the same time, med school sounds insanely scary. I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle it also. My dad says becoming a doctor takes too long, that it’s too much work but my mom says “girl you’re in America, you’re smart, you can do it.” But I’m scared they’ll start… I don’t know… seeing me as a burden when I’m still in school after 5 years with 3 more to go and when I’m doing my residency." I could be a nurse then get my masters in informatics but I hate the idea of working bedside, which I’ll have to do to gain experience. In terms of personality, I’ve been described as unassuming and aloof on two different occasions. Pls halp! Thanks.
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You need to follow your passion. From your comment above, that would not be anything clinical.
There are many areas where you can find a stable career. Don’t limit yourself to a small number of choices.
How old are you?
If you’re 17-18 or younger, then take deep breath because–guess what!–you don’t have to decide your entire future right this minute. You have lots of time. And if you look at employment statistics–you’ll probably have several careers during your life span. Personally I’m on #3.
Becoming a doctor is scary and competitive and takes a long time. It’s not something you should undertake lightly. If it’s you’re calling, then it’s your calling and you have to follow it. But if it’s not, it can mean a lifetime of unhappiness.
If you will be starting college in the near future, I am going to suggest that you take a variety of courses during your first year and do some exploring. You don’t have to dive into either CS or pre-med right away. Both options will still be open to you as a sophomore. (Or even later. I learned programming in grad school while getting a MA in English & American Lit. D1 decided to pursue medicine only after she graduated from college.) See if you can find a subject area or field that actually appeals to you. Sometimes you just have to follow your interests/heart and do what’s right for you…
We have friends whose children have pursued “iffy” career paths (one is an actress; one is documentary film-maker)–guess what? Both are employed and both are self-supporting. The actress is fully self-supporting working just as an actress (she records lots of audiobooks!); the film-maker works on his own projects, works on other people’s projects (editor, producer, publicist) and works as a producer/researcher for TV news & documentaries. Neither are ever going to be rich, but both lead comfortable lives with no financial assistance from their parents/life partners.
Does this mean your parents are wrong to pressure you to find a “stable” career? No, it’s what parents do. We worry. But in the end this is your life and you’re the one who has to live it. Choose what you want to do; don’t choose what someone else thinks you ought to.
As for your parents seeing you as burden because you’re still in school 5 years from now……As a medical student, ** you** not your parents will be paying for your education. (With loans, but that’s how most med students do it.) You won’t be burden. You’ll be paying your own way.
BTW, if you hate the idea of working bedside, you probably shouldn’t consider medicine as a career. Much of what most physicians is working bedside.
---So going forward.
Take a variety of classes to see what resonates with you. Maybe take an intro programming class to see if you enjoy it. Take some math classes. (Infomatics requires a ton of statistics.) Maybe take a bio or intro chem class. Take a economics class or anthropology or philosophy or _________
Do some job shadowing with a variety of healthcare professionals. (And there are a billion of different healthcare jobs--more than just physicians and nurses. Lots are technical and therapists jobs---some like radiation therapy or cytotechnologist require very little or no "working bedside.")
Go to your college's career center and take some career aptitude tests to see where your strengths lie.How any outsider will tell you what you like? You are the only one who can answer thei question. And if you do not know, flip the coin and plunge. And it may be a mistake, so later after you work in a field for awhile, you may need to change or stick around being misearable. Again, it will be your choice. It has happened to me. I was in engineering simply because my fatther was an engineer as others in our extended family. I stick around for 11 year being misearable working and then I said to myself “Enough is enough”. Went back to school and here I am being very happy “coding those mysterious computer programs” Very exciting and challenging job that many around me (including me) do not want to retire from, way too entertaining! But securety / stability of IT / CS positions is simply not there. I am at my job #9, the best of my jobs. Yes, if you want eciting job that all around me absolutley love, “plunge” into CS, not so much being secure / stable. You will not find the later in any fields but medicine. Medicine is a torturous and long academic process that is by far not for everybody.
Sorry, have to make a decision feeling between rock and a hard place. But life is full of risks, those who “play it safe” are loosers.Do not be the one! Learn to take “educated” risks, it will pay off at the end.
Those who play it safe are losers ( its not loosers). Thats a terrible thing to say.
@WayOutWestMom Hi thanks for your answer. I recently turned 17. I don’t understand what you mean when you say I “don’t have to dive into either CS or pre-med right away. Both options will still be open to you as a sophomore.” Don’t I have to apply to college saying what I’m majoring in so that the classes are tailored around the major?
While they will ask for your intended major, most schools don’t require that you declare until sophomore year.
And even after you declare a major as a sophomore, you still have the option to change your major at any time----even as late as your senior year. (Of course changing that late may affect your ability to graduate on time.)
Colleges ask for an intended major mostly for their own internal planning purposes.
My personal thoughts.
It is easier to "transfer " out of pre med then get in at the last moment.
"t is easier to "transfer " out of pre med then get in at the last moment. "- I agree.
Many students enter college with the major of “undecided”. Thats ok. If you want to take the premed requirements, you do not have to start that freshman year. You are still in HS. Perhaps you can arrange to take some career interest and aptitude tests.
As the parent of a college senior, I want to re-iterate that you don’t have to decide your future right now. When he was filling out college applications, DS had a couple ideas about what he would major in. This changed during his freshman year and changed again radically during his sophomore year until he declared his major. This is typical of many students, and colleges expect that. Relax and use your freshman and early sophomore year to check out things that interest you, as other posters have suggested.
One thing about “not deciding right away” - pre-med requires very high GPA. You do not need to decide now, but if you stilll want to have “pre-med” option, whatever major you choose including no major at all, your goal is to have an A in every single class. I said “your goal”. It may not happen, you may get lower than A, but if you want to keep the “pre-med” option, you cannot afford many grades lower than A. Also, if you still do not know by the second year, keep in mind that pre-meds are involved in several medical EC’s. So, again, if you want to continue considering Medical School,. you will have to do the same and these may be very time consuming and a great obstacle in completing your programming assingments in case you are pursuing CS while un-decided. I am talking from my personal experience as a parent of medical student and being in CS field myself. Pogramming assingments are very time consuming and pretty overhelming for the beginner. They become a “second nature” so to speak for the dedicated ones, but it is not natural for a human beings to be thinking at the detail level required by coding, it will take some time to develop and before you do, you will spend considerable time coding simple programs.
I do not want to scare you, but to open your eyes to reality. And reality is that both pre-med and CS require people who are dedicated and passionate about chosen career.
Thanks everyone