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I enjoyed a pretty interesting career as a nurse, but if I was to do it all over again I would study medicine.
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I am studying nursing right now (I'm 20). Maybe I ask why you would have studied medicine instead? From what I have heard, med school certainly is no walk in the park.
When I was 19/20 - I had a pretty good buddy of mine who decided to drop out of the school where we were at and chose to pursue a nursing degree at a local community college. He asked me to join him. Back then, there weren't many guys in the profession. I truly thought he'd gone lost his mind! Did I ever give him a hard time about it, too.
OK, so fast forward some 20+ years and I find out my buddy is a supervisor/nurse practitioner and he's making well into six figs. As an added bonus, he's had a rather awe inspiring number of relationships with many, many gorgeous ladies. So, guess who's laughing all the way to the bank! I mean, I gave this guy endless - endless grief! I was so, so wrong...it's enough to make a grown man fall down and cry (which I have done, a few times...).
Hind sight is 20/20, as they say, but for those who are either smart enough or just plain miraculously lucky enough to fall "back a**wards" into a thriving/hot field - kudos to you. You have hit the jack pot.
This is AWEsome!!! How is he doing these days? Btw, what would YOU have done if you could go back to when you were that young?
Yes, law school as a second career. There are way too many lawyers, and people really think they all make a ton of money which just ain't true There are plenty that only take court appointed cases at $50/hr and basically work out of their cars, especially in rural areas. $50/hr sounds like a lot but you can't charge for everything and you would have to work like 60 hours a week to make a decent living (maybe $50k). Or you can make $150k your first year out in a larger city at a large firm, and work 80 hours a week.
I practice law and have done so for the last 27 years. I don't regret it as a career choice--at least most days! Out of necessity, I ended up opening up my own office and working for myself. It was a good choice to make and for the first 15-20 years I practiced, I beat most of my colleagues "hands down" when it came to income.
Working for myself gave me some options that would make others green with envy. I've always been able to stay home a little later and see my kids off to school. I can always take time off, as long as I'm willing to forgo any income I'd be earning during that time. If work badly needed to be done around the house, some days I could choose to stay home entirely.
In the last few years, I've been rethinking some choices I've made. My colleagues who got a job with a local, state, or the federal government seem to get automatic raises every year. The part I find obnoxious about it is that this has occurred during the worst years of the recession--while others have been losing their jobs entirely. Anyway, year after year of regular pay increases makes the salaries of many my colleagues better than my own when their benefits (retirement, health insurance, vacation time) are factored in.
I think that's wrong. One's greatest aspiration shouldn't be to work for government. Otherwise, who is left to pay taxes for those who do work for government?
So, what I'm saying is that I don't regret become a lawyer. I do have some regrets about not finding government employment. Honestly, I think society has loaded these jobs down top-heavy with automatic pay increases and benefits. We need to rethink what we've done because too many have a real "sweet-heart deal" that is unjustified by market conditions.
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The health field seems to have good job security. of course being married to a doc, I can say there are inherent problems there, too, for primary care docs especially (pay versus student loans.) After having looked for a job for over a year now, I do look wistfully at the tons of physician jobs out there.
Medicine is a good field. However, there are only so many people who can do it because of the numbers needed and the skills required. The vast majority of people are never going to have the skill set required to be admitted to medical school which includes good working knowledge of higher level mathematics (Calculus) and chemistry. Young people who can do these things can become physicians, but the percentage this talented is really smaller than we think. Its about 5% or less. That leaves 95% who need to find another line of work. You make good points about student loans. I have a family physician living next to me who does o.k. However, I can't really compare his standard of living with my own. I think its mostly do to loans he is paying off.
Engineering is a good choice. However, again, it requires great math skills that simply beyond many people. And, I know a number who quit the field to do something else.
Finding the "right career" will always be a daunting choice for young people.
This is AWEsome!!! How is he doing these days? Btw, what would YOU have done if you could go back to when you were that young?
Last I heard, he was doing quite well...still not married though! (Probably by choice...). The nursing field has held up quite well during the recession.
As for me - well, if I could teleport myself back in time, I'd tell my young self that if some buddy of yours asks you to drop out of college and go to nursing school DO IT!
Oh and buy as much Microsoft stock as you can...and remember these names when we get to the late 90's and 00's: Amazon, Google...
As far as career goes I wouldn't change a thing, as far as my children go, my Daughter and I work together and when my son is old enough he will also work with me, what do I do?, I'm a Bail Enforcement Agent, the only thing I would have changed was not to have waited so long to see more of Asia
While i love my profession, i now realize that i never considered pharmacy while i was in school. I would have definitely given that a shot cuz my chemistry/science skills were excellent. Not sure why it never crossed my mind!
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). The nursing field has held up quite well during the recession.
