I agree that most people had never heard of the job; I hadn’t. For people who are familiar with the field, though – like the doctor and nurse you reference – I think it would be valuable to hear what they have to say about the field, even if you and/or your son ultimately disagree with it. If it were me, and I was recommending to my kid that she go into a particular field that I didn’t know much about, I’d want to hear what people think about the field who know about it. So I guess I would recommend that you try not to be defensive about feedback, if someone actually has knowledge about the field.
Other than that, I would just ignore what people say. There are plenty of people in the world who disapprove of my daughter’s majors (philosophy and comparative literature) but I couldn’t care less about what they think. I truly don’t care if anyone approves of her choices or not.
I had a niece who would say she was going to get her MRS. She’s now an attorney in Manhattan.
My D majored in English, then got her MFA in poetry. People used to say, “oh” and give me a sympathetic smile. Guess who knows how to communicate in writing in her spoken language and has a great JOB in her field? The English major!
Just say he’s undeclared. It’s the most common “major”.
Conmama, those of us in medical fields tend to be rather opinionated about what is a good career track and what is not within our domain. We have a lot of opinions. Just like CC! Let it roll of your back. He sounds like a joy, and choosing something and going for it is the point. Who knows where he will go with his particular skill set, given time and opportunity.
FWIW, the people who ‘cringe’ or express sympathy or confusion at kids majoring in English, Philosophy, Poetry, Comp. Lit, etc. tend to be, in my experience, simply under or uneducated. I’m not saying that in anger or out of any kind of insecurity. Some of those people are related to me! They just don’t get it.
If those people knew how many CEOs, highly paid professionals and managers, people of authority and people generally in positions of influence have undergraduate degrees in spanish, government, english, etc. etc. they would be floored.
They still wouldn’t understand, but they’d be floored.
As it relates to the original point of the thread, I agree with the mainstream here: don’t feed it by letting them know it bothers you and either let it role off your back or find a way to turn it around on them. I myself find a degree of self-soothing when I can respond with something snarky. But that’s me.
I’m with those who say it’s just unfamiliarity. I, too, have never heard of the term recreational therapist. It’s kind of a bad job name - on the surface it just sort of connotes someone tossing about a ball. I think people are likely trying to be helpful by suggesting occupational therapy. It’s more of a known quantity and people know what they do and that it requires significant training.
we got the looks and sneers when my D decided to teach. She got what she considers her dream job as a direct result of someone here on CC, and she has done incredibly well by her kids, and I have never met another person, even people I know with ta-da jobs, who loves to get to work every day like my D. She has a solid salary, great benefits, and she loves her job madly and everyone she comes into contact with loves her just as much. How could that be anything but success?
My niece also went to college for an Mrs degree and found a fantastic career. She ended up in finance because that’s where the hot boys are. She was transferred about a month ago to open a new office for her company in a great location with buckets of money. She got lots of comments and looks about her choice, but she found an affinity and it worked out really well despite herself!
My mom is terminally ill and in hospice. The recreational therapists are a God send. Don’t let anyone tell you that they don’t do important work because they do. It is a great career for a caring person and you must be very proud of your son for finding his affinity.
Thank you consolation. She is in a wonderful place with the most caring professionals. At her age and other state of health, it is a blessing that she can be surrounded with such love and care.
A close friend has been a Rec Therapist her entire career. Had her own business for a while but has mostly worked for the VA. She has absolutely loved her career, enjoyed great benefits and decent salary (she bought a home on her own in the $$$ SF Bay Area). I’d be happy if my child followed that career path if that’s what interested them.
I’m surprised that three people knew what occupational therapy was and that it paid better than recreational therapy! I would be asking “what is recreational therapy?”
Today at 10:49 am
I find this thread so interesting. I am an Occupational Therapist and when I was in school no one knew what the heck OT was. Even my mother laughed at my choice and laughed at some of the classes I had to take. I have beenn highly successful in my field. One of my best friends is in Therapeutuc Recreation and has been just as successful as I have been.
Both fields are highly versatile and fulfilling. She has worked in rehab with stroke and spinal cord injuries. She has worked in Psych. She has even done handicapped drivers training. A rec therapist can work with all ages from the very young to the elderly in nursing homes. Imagine if you had a life altering injury and all forms of recreation were stripped from you. Occupational therapy helps to provide independence in daily living. Rec Therapy helps to improve the QUALITY of life. I have a good friend who taught handicapped downhill skiing.
Occupational therapy has become HIGHLY competitive and it is becoming very difficult to get into these OT programs. Therapeutic recreation is a great alternative. Jobs can come in hospitals, in the community such as Easter Seals or United Cerebral palsy, nursing homes, community parks and recreation etc.
I hope some of this information will help you to educate people when they ask. I spent my life educating about the various roles of Occupational Therapy and now the field has exploded. Do the same for Therapeutic Recreation. Good Luck to your son!
People do that all the time, because so many people these days see college degrees as being in effect an expanded trade school, where you learn “useful” things like Finance, Economics, Computer Science, engineering that lead to “good jobs” (which tells you how little they know, a degree in Finance doesn’t exactly prepare students for the real life jobs, and even comp sci graduates often face hurdles in the workplace,because working in real world teams is very different than what they teach in comp sci courses)…and people just love to project their beliefs on others. Sure, some degrees lead more directly to certain jobs, but it isn’t true of a lot of jobs.
This is especially true in the arts, I have had the usual “but it is so hard to be a musician, and what will he do with it if he doesn’t make it as a musician, what is that degree worth” kind of thing, and it shows the mindset. It has been fun, though, when I can point out that music majors going into med school have one of the highest rates of acceptance, or that companies like Goldman Sachs, of all places, are looking for people who don’t have the finance and economics majors because far too many of them are all about thinking inside the box, and articles have specifically singled out music majors, because of the unique abilities that come with that.It is funny, you would think that younger people, those in so called “milennial generation” would be more likely to have the hardened attitudes about ‘good’ majors, but I have found that young folks like that I work with understand, it is the older groups that don’t.
When my daughter was young she had a lot of therapies, at first PT and then PT/OT. Her therapist were nice and helped her a lot, but she did not really enjoy it that much and there was a lot of complaining on her part that the therapist may have found a little sad. The one type of therapy she (and I) really loved was music therapy. The group leader probably had the least amount of education or training, but almost everyone in the class (0-3 years, physical and learning disabilities) could get some joy out of it. The progress couldn’t really be measured like in OT, but the pleasure was immediately visible.
My D2 once got a lecture from a family friend about how she shouldn’t be in art school, she’s too smart and should be going for a profession, etc. I wasn’t there unfortunately and she was quite upset and started doubting herself, but I told her that people who say things like that to you are the ones who are unhappy with themselves and their own choices and are just projecting that on you. Sure enough, this friend was a lawyer who was struggling and had to borrow money from his parents for years while one case dragged out.
Maybe these other health professionals are a bit jealous of the choice the OP’s son is making. There weren’t so many health care choices back in the day for them and maybe they took the path that someone else wanted them to take and they’re not so crazy about how it turned out.
One of my nieces went into the military right after HS graduation, much to the surprise of her teachers, classmates and other parents. She did National Guard, which meant a year of FT basic training and AIT, and then went to college at a state school with a decidedly military bent. Decided after a couple of years not to go ROTC, but to stay in the Guard. She will graduate this spring as a sergeant and magna cum laude in music education. She wants to teach middle school band. She has the perfect qualifications!
I got a lot of flak in HS about wanting to be a teacher – from my teachers as well as other adults. I was too smart, had too many other options, etc. I have wondered since about that path not taken.
Recreational therapy is probably an expanding field as all of the baby boomers start aging and want to stay active. Quality of life and maintaining/regaining useful life skills are so important – and I would think it would come with a lot of job satisfaction.
I can’t thank all of you enough with your support. I especially enjoyed hearing from an OT and those who have used the services of an RT. I will make sure I elaborate just a little when telling what he does. I am really so proud of this career he is studying for and I think he feels good having a goal where he can use his God given skill…compassion and the desire to help others.
The book I bought was the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
