Tiger sibling dilema - passion vs practicality

blossom
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:17:45 +0000

If I were speaking to a high school kid who loved animals I’d be able to come up with the following (with no effort whatsoever)

1- pharma rep for an animal health company (i.e. antibiotics, other drugs people give their animals)
2- fundraiser for an animal rights or conservation advocacy group
3- publicist for a zoo or aquarium
4-director of education at a museum of natural history
5- senate aid for committees dealing with land use, ranching rights, cattle import issues
6-researcher for sustainability/climate change think tank focused on animal populations in fragile environments
7-pet store owner
8- merchandise manager for Pet products retail chain
9-financial analyst for dog food company
10- journalist/writer (I’m thinking Michael Pollan) who covers food/animal/responsible slaughter practices

10 ideas off the top of my head. None require attendance at Vet school. Your D may think all 10 sound lame and perhaps they are… but the two common threads are that most people (I would guess all people?) who have those jobs love animals and like working with other people who do.

Surely your D can afford at the tender age of 18, to spend a little time in college exploring all the options for someone who loves animals without being stuck in a 6 year program doing something she might not like? And maybe she’ll want to study linguistics or psychology or economics and just volunteer in an animal shelter on weekends?

Hey- economics-- she could work at the World Bank on animal/family farm financing in rural India, or work at the UN studying the geopolitics of the vegan diet, or work for a large city developing public transportation models which have pet friendly alternatives, or work for a home builder marketing pet friendly housing developments, … I’m really going now!