How to find the career... or, in other words, I don't know what to do when I grow up
We all had dreams when we were kids about what we wanted to be when "we grew up". The first career I ever wanted was to be an attorney. Something which doesn't appeal to me at present except in the most abstract ways. I was ten years old, and I'll admit it: a television program inspired me to desire this. LA Law apparently didn't just inspire me, it was credited with causing a large portion of the slightly-older-than-me generation to go into law school.
After I got over that, I wanted to focus more on my musical abilities. I'd been playing violin since I was nine, and starting to study more in regards to the history and theory of music progressively got me more interested. At twelve, I started composing. I continued to do so sporadically throughout my formative years.
Concurrently was an interest in archeology. I found the tracking of human civilization to be a fascinating prospect. Other than a magazine subscription to Archeology magazine, I got little support for this interest. Usually, when I expressed the interest to someone, their response was, "Well, you know archeology isn't like Indiana Jones." I usually responded with "Yes, it usually involves cataloging dusty artifacts in a museum." What I wanted to say was: "Yes, I'm not a moron, asshole." I was a bit more timid in my youth.
During high school, I took Latin because of this interest, but there was little else by way of archeology-preparing courses. Music, on the other hand, there was in abundance. Over the course of my four years in high school, I took six and a half years worth of music classes. I volunteered for the Pit Orchestra for our yearly musical, and was in a small ensemble group (Symphonic Strings). I arranged music for our yearly ensemble concert, twice. Music classes were the only classes which I consistently got A's in.
At some point in my high school career, someone brought up the idea of pursuing Music Therapy in college. Music Therapy is usually a combination of music and psychology degrees, with elements pulled from both. The aim is to prepare the student with techniques in order to treat patients by teaching them a musical instrument (most of the time). The idea of helping people with something I loved intrigued me.
After graduating from high school, I attended Prairie State Community College. There, I continued my interest in music. However, when I enrolled, no one suggested I talk to a counselor, so I had no real idea on how to pursue a degree. After a year, my mother announced she was going to move to El Paso, as she had gotten a job there. This proved to loosen my focus, and I while I continued to pursue education after moving in with my father, I pretty much faltered and stopped attending classes.
Years passed. Occasionally, I would get an interest in going back to school again, just to fail again. There are a number of reasons, most of which I don't want to go into.
This time around, it's different. I am focused, and making all A's. I am trying to keep focused, even in subjects I don't like. It's not easy, I go to school at 8 AM, and stay there til 2 PM, then I have to go to work from 2:30 PM - 11:30 PM.
My academic interests have mutated slightly. Rather than performance or composition, I am primarily interested in theory. Rather than archeology, I'm more interested in linguistics, and the applications of that to anthropology and archeology.
I'm excited about how well I'm doing. I had planned to major in international business, but after some time contemplating that, I realized that I really don't want to do that. I have very little interest in business. I've changed my major to music, and, as a result, I've become more interested in school. But, my question is: what do I do once I'm out of school?
I'm very interested in the linguistics field, but the only school in the area that offers that degree is Rice, and I surely cannot get into Rice. I'm going to Houston Community College right now, and am planning on transferring to University of Houston. When I get into UH, I will likely pursue a degree in Music Theory.
I've thought to myself, "Maybe once I have a bachelor's degree already, Rice would be more likely to accept me." The thought of staying in academia for a while pleases me a great deal, however, I'm also trying to be pragmatic, and productive. I want to get a degree and get a job that pays decently well, and not worry about bills all the time like I do now.
And, I go back to the suggestion made to me all those years ago in high school. What if I could marry my strong desire to help people with my love of music. Is music therapy a viable option? I'm not very good at hiding my emotions, and am easy to read. Would that make me bad at any sort of therapy? I mean, what if a patient said something that I thought was stupid, and I got a dismissive look on my face. These are the things I worry about! And, I'm not exactly the picture of mental health, so who am I to help other people?
So, I have all these options before me, and it may seem premature to be looking at them, but I'd like to know what I should prepare for now, at the beginning of my college career, rather than at the tail end, in a panic.
What do you think? Given what you know about my temperament, if you were in my shoes, what would you pick?
After I got over that, I wanted to focus more on my musical abilities. I'd been playing violin since I was nine, and starting to study more in regards to the history and theory of music progressively got me more interested. At twelve, I started composing. I continued to do so sporadically throughout my formative years.
Concurrently was an interest in archeology. I found the tracking of human civilization to be a fascinating prospect. Other than a magazine subscription to Archeology magazine, I got little support for this interest. Usually, when I expressed the interest to someone, their response was, "Well, you know archeology isn't like Indiana Jones." I usually responded with "Yes, it usually involves cataloging dusty artifacts in a museum." What I wanted to say was: "Yes, I'm not a moron, asshole." I was a bit more timid in my youth.
During high school, I took Latin because of this interest, but there was little else by way of archeology-preparing courses. Music, on the other hand, there was in abundance. Over the course of my four years in high school, I took six and a half years worth of music classes. I volunteered for the Pit Orchestra for our yearly musical, and was in a small ensemble group (Symphonic Strings). I arranged music for our yearly ensemble concert, twice. Music classes were the only classes which I consistently got A's in.
At some point in my high school career, someone brought up the idea of pursuing Music Therapy in college. Music Therapy is usually a combination of music and psychology degrees, with elements pulled from both. The aim is to prepare the student with techniques in order to treat patients by teaching them a musical instrument (most of the time). The idea of helping people with something I loved intrigued me.
After graduating from high school, I attended Prairie State Community College. There, I continued my interest in music. However, when I enrolled, no one suggested I talk to a counselor, so I had no real idea on how to pursue a degree. After a year, my mother announced she was going to move to El Paso, as she had gotten a job there. This proved to loosen my focus, and I while I continued to pursue education after moving in with my father, I pretty much faltered and stopped attending classes.
Years passed. Occasionally, I would get an interest in going back to school again, just to fail again. There are a number of reasons, most of which I don't want to go into.
This time around, it's different. I am focused, and making all A's. I am trying to keep focused, even in subjects I don't like. It's not easy, I go to school at 8 AM, and stay there til 2 PM, then I have to go to work from 2:30 PM - 11:30 PM.
My academic interests have mutated slightly. Rather than performance or composition, I am primarily interested in theory. Rather than archeology, I'm more interested in linguistics, and the applications of that to anthropology and archeology.
I'm excited about how well I'm doing. I had planned to major in international business, but after some time contemplating that, I realized that I really don't want to do that. I have very little interest in business. I've changed my major to music, and, as a result, I've become more interested in school. But, my question is: what do I do once I'm out of school?
I'm very interested in the linguistics field, but the only school in the area that offers that degree is Rice, and I surely cannot get into Rice. I'm going to Houston Community College right now, and am planning on transferring to University of Houston. When I get into UH, I will likely pursue a degree in Music Theory.
I've thought to myself, "Maybe once I have a bachelor's degree already, Rice would be more likely to accept me." The thought of staying in academia for a while pleases me a great deal, however, I'm also trying to be pragmatic, and productive. I want to get a degree and get a job that pays decently well, and not worry about bills all the time like I do now.
And, I go back to the suggestion made to me all those years ago in high school. What if I could marry my strong desire to help people with my love of music. Is music therapy a viable option? I'm not very good at hiding my emotions, and am easy to read. Would that make me bad at any sort of therapy? I mean, what if a patient said something that I thought was stupid, and I got a dismissive look on my face. These are the things I worry about! And, I'm not exactly the picture of mental health, so who am I to help other people?
So, I have all these options before me, and it may seem premature to be looking at them, but I'd like to know what I should prepare for now, at the beginning of my college career, rather than at the tail end, in a panic.
What do you think? Given what you know about my temperament, if you were in my shoes, what would you pick?