#7 Future Careers

So, I'm taking Psych 101 this semester, it's an introductory course to the Psychology major. In this class we're learning about what sort of expectations we can have for the major, what the classes are like, activities to participate in, and what to do post-graduation. It's funny, but the professor told us on Day 1 that his goal was to dissuade as many of us as he could from taking further classes if it was, in fact, not the major for any of us and help us find a better fit. So, sometimes it can be discouraging to hear about the massive course load or how much it'll take to get into a solid, well-paying career, but it's nice to have this information now.

It can be frustrating to hear about how hard it is to complete a degree, knowing that any high-level job I would want to have requires further education and getting a Master's or PhD, but the idea of being a Clinical Psychologist is still something I feel good about pursuing. 

There are actually many routes, I found out, that I can take with Psychology. The study of human behavior is fairly broad and has many different applications. Many different fields of study and work can be assisted by a student of Psychology, such as business HR, so I don't feel as trapped or claustrophobic in my major. I'm also learning more about what actually goes on in the career of a Psychologist; there's a lot of research to conduct and publish. As a student, I need to find internships and chances to work alongside professors on their research so I can try things out and attempt to get published. 

We watched a video in class that illustrated how going into a program such as this with naivety will be your downfall and how much of a strenuous and expensive commitment it is. After the main character of this video tried persistently to justify her desire to her college counselor, just so she could be called "Doctor" by her family and friends, the class laughed and people around me joked, "Man, why would anyone want to go into clinical psychology? So dumb..." Not gonna lie, but it shook my resolve a bit. Later on, as I read more on the requirements and where I could go with this degree, I felt better and set in my course a little more. 

Grad school and college in general seems like it'd be a lot and cost even more, but my teacher, Prof. Chapman, told us that the only thing more expensive than a college education is actually NOT going to college. The idea is that your net gain, from paying for college but making more later on, is greater than what you would get working a 9-5 dead-end job for the rest of your life and never paying for a higher-level education. So, just that fact alone will help me in the future when I have to start applications for Grad school.