Nick - Changing The World, Ect.

"You're going into music/journalism/math? That's pretty cool. That sounds like a fun career. Me? I'm just going into pre-med this year. Biology major. I want to be an optometrist, or maybe an ophthalmologist. Yeah. Oh, eyes. That means eye doctor. Yeah, well, I think it'll be pretty cool." - Me, every time the subject of careers comes up.

At first I wanted to be a singer in a band and make video games. And then I grew up and realized those are not real careers. And then I spent a long time not knowing what I wanted to do. What I really wanted to do was change the world; leave a lasting mark that will benefit everybody. I thought about being a politician, but it's just too hard to get into politics as a viable career. I thought about music, but I just don't feel that I'm dedicated enough to have music as anything other than a hobby. I thought about biochemistry as a way to develop new technology to change the world, but I can't see myself doing that for the rest of my life. Theater is also an interesting option, but it's another thing I just can't see myself doing for life; it's difficult to get to a good place in theater. I know it doesn't sound like the optimal way to change the world, but I've finally decided that my plan, for right now, is to be an eye doctor.

It's not that being a doctor sounds like the most fun thing ever, because it doesn't. It's just that it sounds like something I think I can be good at. I've really been interested in being an eye doctor ever since my eye doctor mentioned to me what an easy career at is. At first I was just considering it as a novelty, a sort of a loophole: get paid like a doctor without having to do any emergency work or high-stakes surgery. But the more I got to thinking about it, I realized that I do have an interest in being an eye doctor and it's something that I really want to do. So while my career isn't nearly as cool as yours is going to be, I feel like it has a lot of perks in its own way.

First is the money. If find a better way to change the world later in life and need finances, more schooling, or what-have-you to do it, I'm going to be financially secure enough to do that. Most important to me is that this is something I can be good at. I wouldn't have any problem being an eye doctor for the rest of my life, and it's something I can always improve in. There's always more you can do in a career like this. I could get an eye doctor job at a better place, I could start my own eye clinic, I could work in research developing new technologies. It's a career with endless opportunities.

Another thing that played a strong part in my decision is that I can change my mind pretty much at any time. If I get to medical school and decide I want to be an anesthesiologist instead, no problem; I've taken all the right courses already, I just have to adjust my prospective classes and I'm good to go. If I decide during undergrad that I want to go into biochemistry or another research science, no problem; I've already taken all the chemistry, biology and calculus that I need to get me there.

I'm happy to say that even though I'm keeping my options as open as possible, I'm pretty happy with the career decisions I've made so far. I feel like I can start working toward being an eye doctor, and either I will really like it and keep going for it, or I'll find something I like better and move in a different direction.

I'm confident that I can find a way to change the world somewhere on this path I've laid out for myself.

-Nick.