When I decided to return to college in my mid-20s, I decided to pursue a career in science. While history will always be the subject I return to, I also loved science. Well, and there really aren’t any jobs in history. Let’s be honest here. I wanted a career that I enjoyed, one where there was a need and I could find a job, and one where I could make enough money to pay back my exorbitant loans. So biochemistry it was.
And I loved it. I loved learning about it. I loved doing the labs. I loved everything about it. At one point I considered going for a Ph.D. to the point where I was researching schools and programs and studying for the GREs. And then I realized that I’d graduate when I was 28, and I didn’t want to spend another six years in school. So off to the workforce I went.
It didn’t take long to find a job at a major local university. The researcher I worked for was Satan. I was working 50 hour weeks, forced to fudge my timecard, and made absolutely nothing. So after a year and a half I took the skillset I had acquired and left for a private biotech company. The pay was better, but the work was tedious. I was bored out of my skull. I hated it. A few months later I was laid off due to corporate restructuring. It was a literal blessing.
A few months later I landed at a medical non-profit. If I thought I worked for Satan before… she was just a minion to the CEO I was working for. I lasted six and a half years there. Around year four I realized that while I loved science and learning about it, the life of a tech was definitely not for me. So I started an online MBA program.
The company I ended up with has its headquarters in town. My ultimate goal is corporate, and I was told that I needed management experience, so I got placed in a store.
Don’t get me wrong, I like it (I’m not looking forward to the holidays at all), but I’ve been there a year, I’ve done what I was told I should do, and I’m thinking it’s time to start making a run at some corporate positions.
I will always love science and history. Always. But I’ve tried to be pragmatic and work jobs and in fields that I like and can tolerate, something that can keep me interested and engaged and put food on the table and pay those pesky student loans.
So right now, am I doing what I want to do? No. Not in the least. Am I on a path to get where I want? I hope so. I really hope so.
