Hi all,
I'm brand new. 🙂
I'm about to start my final year of undergrad at Elmhurst College, a private liberal-arts (but strongly research-oriented) college in the suburbs of Chicago. I am currently doing a fellowship at Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine in the Pharmacology department.
I entered undergrad having spent my entire life dreaming of becoming a veterinarian. All went well until my advisor, whom I have a very good relationship with, asked me last fall what I would do if I would not get into vet school. I replied that I would try again. He asked what I'd do then, and I shrugged. He suggested grad school to get a PhD. Well, the idea completely took hold of me and I threw away all of my old dreams of becoming a vet! This decision was aided by my work experience at a vet clinic, where I looked around and thought "is this it?". Despite wanting to specialize, I couldn't imagine doing the same thing every day. As time went on, I began to realize more and more that maybe vet medicine was not for me.
I began this 10-week fellowship with the task of figuring out what I want to research and devote my work to. Over the course of my time here, I realized that I just can't figure out what miniscule topic I'd spend my entire life doing - I'm strong in molecular biology, but a life steeped in it makes me cringe. I could go for organismal biology, which sounds a lot better, but I've heard so many bad things about the process of getting a PhD, life as a grad student, and how the job market (especially for professorships) is getting slim. Then I went back to thinking about vet school, but the cost of it all in comparison to a different route scared me away again.
So began my third, now-frantic, search for a career. I've realized along the way that I expect too much out of a career, so now I know a job ought to just be a job, although I'd still like to enjoy it to a degree! My undergrad advisor just launched an online MPH program at my school, and the idea took hold of me! Epidemiology sounds exciting, but I'm such a germophobe that I'm nervous I wouldn't be able to do well in this field. My other love has always been environmental/climate issues. What would you all suggest for me? I could see myself enjoying a job in environmental public health, but the truth is that I'm not really sure what a "typical job/day" would be like. I know there's a lot of growth in the field, but where would I start? How far up the ladder could I go? I know that sanitarians can be hired with just a high school diploma, but if I have a BS and work as a sanitarian while getting an MPH, what would my growth options be? I'm so very new to this field, despite all of my reading. I love biology, and I'd like to stick with it a bit, which brings me back to Epidemiology, and then I just go in circles from there! I don't know much about the other concentrations in Public Health...nothing about animals/conservation, is there? 😛
Also, I apologize, because I must sound like I totally don't have my act together! 😳 This is so unusual for me... I am the type of person who has almost *everything* figured out and the rest is faith. That's why I'm so frantic about career planning - I can't bear to not know what I'm going to do after I graduate with my BS.
I have a 3.677 GPA, have worked 20 hours/week since the moment I started college (so I have work history, even if it is not totally relevant to my career), will have 2 years of research experience by the time I graduate, and this fellowship experience. I will be taking my GRE at the end of this summer.
Thanks in advance for input. I value any and all advice!
- Mari
I'm brand new. 🙂
I'm about to start my final year of undergrad at Elmhurst College, a private liberal-arts (but strongly research-oriented) college in the suburbs of Chicago. I am currently doing a fellowship at Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine in the Pharmacology department.
I entered undergrad having spent my entire life dreaming of becoming a veterinarian. All went well until my advisor, whom I have a very good relationship with, asked me last fall what I would do if I would not get into vet school. I replied that I would try again. He asked what I'd do then, and I shrugged. He suggested grad school to get a PhD. Well, the idea completely took hold of me and I threw away all of my old dreams of becoming a vet! This decision was aided by my work experience at a vet clinic, where I looked around and thought "is this it?". Despite wanting to specialize, I couldn't imagine doing the same thing every day. As time went on, I began to realize more and more that maybe vet medicine was not for me.
I began this 10-week fellowship with the task of figuring out what I want to research and devote my work to. Over the course of my time here, I realized that I just can't figure out what miniscule topic I'd spend my entire life doing - I'm strong in molecular biology, but a life steeped in it makes me cringe. I could go for organismal biology, which sounds a lot better, but I've heard so many bad things about the process of getting a PhD, life as a grad student, and how the job market (especially for professorships) is getting slim. Then I went back to thinking about vet school, but the cost of it all in comparison to a different route scared me away again.
So began my third, now-frantic, search for a career. I've realized along the way that I expect too much out of a career, so now I know a job ought to just be a job, although I'd still like to enjoy it to a degree! My undergrad advisor just launched an online MPH program at my school, and the idea took hold of me! Epidemiology sounds exciting, but I'm such a germophobe that I'm nervous I wouldn't be able to do well in this field. My other love has always been environmental/climate issues. What would you all suggest for me? I could see myself enjoying a job in environmental public health, but the truth is that I'm not really sure what a "typical job/day" would be like. I know there's a lot of growth in the field, but where would I start? How far up the ladder could I go? I know that sanitarians can be hired with just a high school diploma, but if I have a BS and work as a sanitarian while getting an MPH, what would my growth options be? I'm so very new to this field, despite all of my reading. I love biology, and I'd like to stick with it a bit, which brings me back to Epidemiology, and then I just go in circles from there! I don't know much about the other concentrations in Public Health...nothing about animals/conservation, is there? 😛
Also, I apologize, because I must sound like I totally don't have my act together! 😳 This is so unusual for me... I am the type of person who has almost *everything* figured out and the rest is faith. That's why I'm so frantic about career planning - I can't bear to not know what I'm going to do after I graduate with my BS.
I have a 3.677 GPA, have worked 20 hours/week since the moment I started college (so I have work history, even if it is not totally relevant to my career), will have 2 years of research experience by the time I graduate, and this fellowship experience. I will be taking my GRE at the end of this summer.
Thanks in advance for input. I value any and all advice!
- Mari