decisions, decisions
I have some decisions to make. Again. I'm not even sure how to explain it.
Let's see. First of all, I will be graduating in May. The only thing that would stop me is if I make below a C in the class and there's no way I'm letting that happen. Once I graduate I'll have a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice/Sociology. Two of my choices involve taking the GRE soon so I'll be studying for that too. :O
Technically, I have three choices:
1 - JUST GET A JOB - I could simply graduate in May and look for a job in my field that requires a degree in anything or just go work for the Monroe Police or sheriff's office. This option is, I assume, a guaranteed thing. I've talked to some of the deputies I used to work with there and they say APPLY APPLY APPLY.
Pros: Obviously starting out with a good steady job would be awesome. It's a good place to start if I want to work in the criminal justice field.
Cons: I have no way of knowing what kind of hours I'd have in this kind of job. It might be difficult to go back to school for anything else and of course it's not absolutely guaranteed. A big con of this option is I WANT TO GET A MASTER'S DEGREE.
2 - TEACHING - I start studying for the GRE now adding it as almost another class this semester. I have to take it as soon as possible though so I can start applying to grad school. In this option I'll need to get all of the information together to apply for the "Teach Northeast" program. This program will give me a Master's Degree in Elementary Education and allow me to teach grades 1-5 while I am in school. In other words, they pay me to go to school and be a teacher. This means I'd have a job and not have to worry about that anymore. The important thing is I've ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher. I've had it planned for the past few months as well. That is until I found out about option three.
Pros: Teaching has always been a dream job of mine. I'll have a job as a teacher while I am getting this degree so I won't have to worry about that.
Cons: There is a huge chance I won't even find a job around here. It's hard to find teaching jobs and finding someone to hire me might be really difficult.
3 - FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - This option was brought my attention a few days ago. The reason I started college in 1998 (shut up) was because I wanted to go into Forensic Psychology. I started reading about it and realized it wasn't very realistic because there are no programs around here for that. EXCEPT NOW THERE IS. The degree is actually a Master's in Psychology with a Criminal Concentration. I. WANT. THIS. NOW. It's really a dream come true for me. The GRE thing still stands here, but the score I have to make to be able to be in this program is WAY higher than the teaching one. There's a bit more pressure, but I'll study the same either way.
Pros: IT'S MY DREAM COME TRUE. Combining Criminal Justice and Psychology. The head of the Psychology department (if he remembers me) would help me out a lot. The job outlook for this is slightly confusing to me right now, but I feel I wouldn't have a hard time finding a job at all. There is a graduate assistantship I could apply for. It might prove difficult, but it's a great option that pays tuition and gives you a stipend.
Cons: I'd be in school a year and a half longer with no guarantee of a job that could fit in with my school schedule. I'd be putting off living alone (AGAIN). This process is extremely scary to me. I have no professor contacts like I used to. I'd have Williamson (head of Psychology) maybe. Also, I have to get financial aid for this because they don't pay you to go to school like the "teaching" option does. It's highly unlikely that I'll get approved for financial aid. If I DO get financial aid, I can live off of that for a while.
After all of that rambling, I still can't figure it out. I think right now I'll focus on the class that's starting in a week and studying for my GRE. Once school starts I am going to be bugging the hell out of the heads of both the Criminal Justice and Psychology departments. Hopefully they can help me decide what to do.
Let's see. First of all, I will be graduating in May. The only thing that would stop me is if I make below a C in the class and there's no way I'm letting that happen. Once I graduate I'll have a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice/Sociology. Two of my choices involve taking the GRE soon so I'll be studying for that too. :O
Technically, I have three choices:
1 - JUST GET A JOB - I could simply graduate in May and look for a job in my field that requires a degree in anything or just go work for the Monroe Police or sheriff's office. This option is, I assume, a guaranteed thing. I've talked to some of the deputies I used to work with there and they say APPLY APPLY APPLY.
Pros: Obviously starting out with a good steady job would be awesome. It's a good place to start if I want to work in the criminal justice field.
Cons: I have no way of knowing what kind of hours I'd have in this kind of job. It might be difficult to go back to school for anything else and of course it's not absolutely guaranteed. A big con of this option is I WANT TO GET A MASTER'S DEGREE.
2 - TEACHING - I start studying for the GRE now adding it as almost another class this semester. I have to take it as soon as possible though so I can start applying to grad school. In this option I'll need to get all of the information together to apply for the "Teach Northeast" program. This program will give me a Master's Degree in Elementary Education and allow me to teach grades 1-5 while I am in school. In other words, they pay me to go to school and be a teacher. This means I'd have a job and not have to worry about that anymore. The important thing is I've ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher. I've had it planned for the past few months as well. That is until I found out about option three.
Pros: Teaching has always been a dream job of mine. I'll have a job as a teacher while I am getting this degree so I won't have to worry about that.
Cons: There is a huge chance I won't even find a job around here. It's hard to find teaching jobs and finding someone to hire me might be really difficult.
3 - FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - This option was brought my attention a few days ago. The reason I started college in 1998 (shut up) was because I wanted to go into Forensic Psychology. I started reading about it and realized it wasn't very realistic because there are no programs around here for that. EXCEPT NOW THERE IS. The degree is actually a Master's in Psychology with a Criminal Concentration. I. WANT. THIS. NOW. It's really a dream come true for me. The GRE thing still stands here, but the score I have to make to be able to be in this program is WAY higher than the teaching one. There's a bit more pressure, but I'll study the same either way.
Pros: IT'S MY DREAM COME TRUE. Combining Criminal Justice and Psychology. The head of the Psychology department (if he remembers me) would help me out a lot. The job outlook for this is slightly confusing to me right now, but I feel I wouldn't have a hard time finding a job at all. There is a graduate assistantship I could apply for. It might prove difficult, but it's a great option that pays tuition and gives you a stipend.
Cons: I'd be in school a year and a half longer with no guarantee of a job that could fit in with my school schedule. I'd be putting off living alone (AGAIN). This process is extremely scary to me. I have no professor contacts like I used to. I'd have Williamson (head of Psychology) maybe. Also, I have to get financial aid for this because they don't pay you to go to school like the "teaching" option does. It's highly unlikely that I'll get approved for financial aid. If I DO get financial aid, I can live off of that for a while.
After all of that rambling, I still can't figure it out. I think right now I'll focus on the class that's starting in a week and studying for my GRE. Once school starts I am going to be bugging the hell out of the heads of both the Criminal Justice and Psychology departments. Hopefully they can help me decide what to do.