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What degrees are you working towards?
- Thread starter Aranince
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Dunno if this'll help or not, but ...
I had planned to be an emergency doctor. I got my EMT license when I was 16, and I had everything mapped out: get a BS in biology, continue working nights/weekends (both for the money and the experience), then go on to med school.
My freshman year of college, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It's worst in my hands. I quickly lost the majority of my hand strength. One of the defining moments of my life was sitting in a doctor's office soon after my initial diagnosis. The doctor, a man completely lacking in bedside manner, asked me what I was majoring in. I told him my plans. He laughed and said that I needed to be realistic, because there was no way that I could be a doctor with hands like mine.
Ultimately, he was right, even if he could've been a bit gentler in delivering that message. I changed from a biology degree to a computer science degree. I'd had computers ever since I was very young, and my dad and I learned BASIC together, so it was something that I was interested in and liked doing but had never considered making a career out of it until I was forced to change my plans.
I still miss that dream sometimes, and sometimes when I see an ambulance go by with its sirens blaring, I remember what it was like. But for all that, I like where I ended up. I got a BS in computer science, another BS in math, and then a MS in human-computer interaction. I might not have a lot of hand strength, but I can type 100 words per minute.
I've got an awesome job that I find fascinating. As I said, I don't know if this helps, but I definitely sympathise with you. Good luck figuring out what comes next.
Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
I've still not decided what to be 'what I grow up'. I'm already grown up in age, just not maturity.
I've still not decided what to be 'what I grow up'. I'm already grown up in age, just not maturity.
Dunno if this'll help or not, but ...
I had planned to be an emergency doctor. I got my EMT license when I was 16, and I had everything mapped out: get a BS in biology, continue working nights/weekends (both for the money and the experience), then go on to med school.
My freshman year of college, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It's worst in my hands. I quickly lost the majority of my hand strength. One of the defining moments of my life was sitting in a doctor's office soon after my initial diagnosis. The doctor, a man completely lacking in bedside manner, asked me what I was majoring in. I told him my plans. He laughed and said that I needed to be realistic, because there was no way that I could be a doctor with hands like mine.
Ultimately, he was right, even if he could've been a bit gentler in delivering that message. I changed from a biology degree to a computer science degree. I'd had computers ever since I was very young, and my dad and I learned BASIC together, so it was something that I was interested in and liked doing but had never considered making a career out of it until I was forced to change my plans.
I still miss that dream sometimes, and sometimes when I see an ambulance go by with its sirens blaring, I remember what it was like. But for all that, I like where I ended up. I got a BS in computer science, another BS in math, and then a MS in human-computer interaction. I might not have a lot of hand strength, but I can type 100 words per minute.
As I said, I don't know if this helps, but I definitely sympathise with you. Good luck figuring out what comes next.
Wow. I'm just in high school, but I couldn't imagine finding that out in your first year of collage. It's really hard to think about. Going to my classes seems like a waste of time (my GPA right now is 4.0) just because I don't feel that I have anything to work towards. I know that's me just being dramatic, but it hit me pretty hard. I don't think I would be able to get out of the medical field and its entirety, but I know now that I can't be a surgeon. At all. I'm getting an appointment with my doctor to check it out, but I'm almost 100% sure it's a 'essential tremor'. I don't know if you know what that is, but you may. It doesn't affect my day to day life really. But if I were ever to become a doctor I would probably need to get a subscription for a beta-blocker or primidone.
I guess I'm very lucky compared to being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I couldn't even imagine.
Thank you for sharing your story with me. It has given me some hope.
I'm hoping to finish my BA in English Literature this Spring, and then enter a Credential program next Fall to teach high school. After that I'd like to get a Masters in Composition, and then who knows? Maybe I'll work at Arby's or something.
BA, Biology and Biochemistry
MPH, Epidemiology
DO, Medical Doctor (to be completed in 2012)
I abandoned the dual DO/PhD idea based on the fact that while I enjoy the pursuit of science, I am not really convinced I need two terminal degrees to do research in a field I am both immersed in and continually fascinated by. One way or the other, clinical research will happen, just not with a PhD attached.
In case anyone is curious, the DO is the legal and professional equivalent to the MD in the US. The principal difference (and it is fading, it seems) is that they learn manipulative medicine alongside the regular MD-ish curriculum.
MPH, Epidemiology
DO, Medical Doctor (to be completed in 2012)
I abandoned the dual DO/PhD idea based on the fact that while I enjoy the pursuit of science, I am not really convinced I need two terminal degrees to do research in a field I am both immersed in and continually fascinated by. One way or the other, clinical research will happen, just not with a PhD attached.
In case anyone is curious, the DO is the legal and professional equivalent to the MD in the US. The principal difference (and it is fading, it seems) is that they learn manipulative medicine alongside the regular MD-ish curriculum.
I have a bachelor (1986) and masters (1991) in music performance, and am working on a masters in East Asian linguistics/Chinese (2011 - I'm doing it part-time, over 4 years ).
).
B. Architecture.
Nearing completions of the AREs and other assorted requirements for licensure. Hopefully will be "minimally competent" (the definition of licensure) in the next 10 months or so.
Nearing completions of the AREs and other assorted requirements for licensure. Hopefully will be "minimally competent" (the definition of licensure) in the next 10 months or so.
I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through a bachelor of commerce and about a 1/4 though an LLB (law). I should have them all finished in about three years. I also started an arts degree but transfered into law instead.
Sorry to hear your dream won't work out.
New doors, of which you have yet to realize, have just opened for you.
The hard part will be choosing which ones to go through.
I have my dual-BS in Biochemistry/Biology, and I am working on my PhD in Applied Biotechnology/Biomedical Sciences with a focus in Cardiovascular Biology.
I'm the nerdiest bartender ever. But at least I'm not in debt
I'm the nerdiest bartender ever. But at least I'm not in debt
Since he/she didn't answer I think they are buried in books or studying for the bar. As a first year law student, I think it's stressful, not due to the material, which is truly not hard (like science, engineering, math, studying a new language), but due to the incredible amount of reading. Our professors note how poorly written not only some sections of the textbook are, but even by the reasoning and writing skills of some of the Supreme Court Justices now and throughout history. It's bad enough to figure out legalese, but it's just as hard to make out long statements poorly written from the standpoint of grammar and context. That being said, one is not graded on the bar by grammar and spelling, but by applying the huge amount of law one has to memorize by rote and apply it one way or another to a legal issue. There are never any wrong answers in law on an exam, and there is a lot of freedom to elaborate, but what makes it hard is that one has to do it very concisely. Law school, in so many ways, is the opposite of college/university. Our Harvard law professor basically says in his intro speech, "Welcome back to high school".
What is strange is that people revert back to high school ways and this is no help. Some may have lockers, or something akin to that, and we are back to writing short sentences on everything, and avoiding collegiate writing. Judges are allowed to write in the familiar collegiate style, but never law students.
Law school is an alternate universe and people who try and rely on their smarts won't make it, and if they do, they won't like it.
It's a freakin' trade and skill set and as soon as a person realizes that it's not an academic situation, the better off they are. Remember how they treated you like adults in college? Forget all that in law school. You are a child again and they use the Socratic method to teach you the basics of law. It's all basics and there are many of them to memorize.
One dean told us that your brain will shrink and your collegiate writing skills will deteriorate. But the short, terse, on point writing is what they teach you and many say the first year of law school where one transitions, is where the highest dropout rate is.
Wow.
But short sentences can be good.
Way too much of what I have to read in my studies has (unnecessarily) loooooong sentences.