Not Sure What to do at 32

[thirk_dds]

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Hello fellow SDNr's. So as the title reads, I am 32 and unsure as to what I should do with my life. Back in 2011, after I graduated with a bachelor's in graphic design, I decided to pursue the dental field. I was very excited, volunteered very often, shadowed as often as possible, however, I did not do so well in my predent courses. I mainly got C's out of not being focused/studying/not taking it seriously, and even failed a class for not going back to school as I left the state. Studying accounting, I have a perfect GPA, taking a couple courses at a time towards a second bachelor's, but I got this from actually trying, something I neglected to do when I was younger. Now, 8 years later, I am a banker and I have been thinking about studying accounting. I took courses for accounting but I didn't feel as ecstatic about that as I did with dental school. My interests in dental far outweigh my interest in accounting, as right now I see accounting as a means to good pay, stable work and climbing the corporate ladder. However, my interest in accounting is not close to dental. For dental, I knew the pay was okay but I had interests to the point of watching surgical procedures on my own spare time, shadowing dentists after work, and still considering pursuing the field at my current age. It's like the "Life that could've been" situation.Right now Im stuck, very stuck. I feel like time is running out for me and Im not sure what to do. On one hand, I have something that Im not really sure about, but can open up doors maybe in the future. On the other hand, I have something that was my ultimate goal, but never achieved. If I could turn back time, I would have done dentistry 100 percent. I don't know what to do...and if it's even worth it at my age, an old book that I should just...let go

 

[Ad2b]

I'm 54. Life isn't over until you're in the grave. Only you can decide if

1. You can get the grades required for dental school
2. The ROI on leaving the accounting space to pursue potential dentistry >> than not

I tried for decades to leave medicine behind me; give it up, walk away. Even tried to do it last year. But I can't. The business world bores me to tears despite that I'm pretty good at what I do; medicine may leave ME behind but that's on them; at least I gave it everything I have and let the chips fall where they may. No regrets.

 

[thirk_dds]

I'm 54. Life isn't over until you're in the grave. Only you can decide if

1. You can get the grades required for dental school
2. The ROI on leaving the accounting space to pursue potential dentistry >> than not

I tried for decades to leave medicine behind me; give it up, walk away. Even tried to do it last year. But I can't. The business world bores me to tears despite that I'm pretty good at what I do; medicine may leave ME behind but that's on them; at least I gave it everything I have and let the chips fall where they may. No regrets.

I know that feeling, giving up repeatedly. I even convinced my fiance that dentistry was a major mistake and that I wasted time. Yet, I always have that regret/envious feeling when I see others that achieved their dream in dentistry. I feel like Im doing things just to do it, rather than as fulfillment. As far as grades, Im not too worried about it. Before, I felt that I was just not smart enough, even though I didnt try too hard. I felt that everyone was better than I. That was until I started taking accounting courses from teacher that were not good at teaching. I learned how to manage my time better, focus, seek understanding and try until I "got it". At that point I started passing exams with close to perfect scores, even though I was not interested in the material. I literally banged my head against the work until it clicked, something that I should've done in Chem/Bio etc. The second one you wrote is where I struggle. Is it worth it is my question. Dentistry I feel would be my ultimate dream, but is it truly realistic. I am afraid that I may get into accounting, and possibly end up disliking it once im in the workforce. Dentistry, I feel, would make me so proud of who I have become. Im not into the accounting workforce yet, as I only took a few classes, about the same as dentistry.

 

[Ad2b]

Only you can answer #2 and from an almost CPA (passed AUD and BEC), accounting and the associated business courses were nothing like taking chemistry and physics, or orgo and biochem.

There are many avenues in the business world that people can be proud of without having fancy initials at the end of their name 🙂

 

[Mike Bagwell]

Here is a paraphrased quote from our Dean of admissions from the local paper..."Nobody wakes up one morning and decides they want to go to medical school. You have to be a very committed person."

That's advice from a Dean who either lets you in or turns you down.

The same statement would apply to dental school.

 

[twospadz]

Don't do dentistry; big big mistake. If you want to get involved, volunteer at a clinic. Trust me stay where you are at. The grass is greener man, seriously

 

[DocJanItor]

There's a tendency to look at our regrets with an idealized point of view. "If I had done A, then I would've had X, Y, Z." But it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes things go wrong even with the best effort or intentions. The truth is that we can never know how things would've turned out -- unless we're visited by 3 ghosts on christmas eve.

My first instinct for you would be to avoid dentistry. Thus far you've dedicated yourself to 2 non-STEM majors. While it's certainly not required to have a STEM background to work towards dentistry, it does strike me as significant that you've not shown or mentioned a specific interest in science. Perhaps its that lack of passion that prevented you from succeeding the first time. While it's easy to be passionate about the end product you have to have dedication to get there. You might be a sausage lover, but very few people want to learn how to butcher.

Is accounting boring? Absolutely. Is it stable and profitable? Extremely. Dentistry pays well but it's not that far above accounting. If you took the time to go into dentistry then your lost wages would probably not be recouped by the time you retired. Accounting will also give you more time flexibility and probably greater job opportunities. I know of one dentist who is getting paid relatively poorly because urban dentistry is highly saturated right now.

Last point: your job is not your life. It's just something you do, not who you are. While it helps to be passionate about your work, I think you will find that nearly everyone becomes bored with whatever they do after a while. It's just the human condition.

 

[thirk_dds]

Only you can answer #2 and from an almost CPA (passed AUD and BEC), accounting and the associated business courses were nothing like taking chemistry and physics, or orgo and biochem.

There are many avenues in the business world that people can be proud of without having fancy initials at the end of their name 🙂

This is true, I guess my issue is that I never wanted to be in the business world growing up. It was never my "dream" so that's why I feel like a failure

 

[thirk_dds]

Here is a paraphrased quote from our Dean of admissions from the local paper..."Nobody wakes up one morning and decides they want to go to medical school. You have to be a very committed person."

That's advice from a Dean who either lets you in or turns you down.

The same statement would apply to dental school.

I understand that, however, I never woke up one day and decided that. I pursued dental a long time ago but just wasn't committed to the studying enough to make an impact. I then felt like I wasn't good enough and left the path but that was something I pursued years ago.

 

[thirk_dds]

Don't do dentistry; big big mistake. If you want to get involved, volunteer at a clinic. Trust me stay where you are at. The grass is greener man, seriously

Is something changing about the field that Im not aware of? Every dentist that I've met all looked happy with their choice so Im not sure.

 

[thirk_dds]

There's a tendency to look at our regrets with an idealized point of view. "If I had done A, then I would've had X, Y, Z." But it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes things go wrong even with the best effort or intentions. The truth is that we can never know how things would've turned out -- unless we're visited by 3 ghosts on christmas eve.

My first instinct for you would be to avoid dentistry. Thus far you've dedicated yourself to 2 non-STEM majors. While it's certainly not required to have a STEM background to work towards dentistry, it does strike me as significant that you've not shown or mentioned a specific interest in science. Perhaps its that lack of passion that prevented you from succeeding the first time. While it's easy to be passionate about the end product you have to have dedication to get there. You might be a sausage lover, but very few people want to learn how to butcher.

Is accounting boring? Absolutely. Is it stable and profitable? Extremely. Dentistry pays well but it's not that far above accounting. If you took the time to go into dentistry then your lost wages would probably not be recouped by the time you retired. Accounting will also give you more time flexibility and probably greater job opportunities. I know of one dentist who is getting paid relatively poorly because urban dentistry is highly saturated right now.

Last point: your job is not your life. It's just something you do, not who you are. While it helps to be passionate about your work, I think you will find that nearly everyone becomes bored with whatever they do after a while. It's just the human condition.

Well for my degree, I dedicated myself not because I wanted to do that as a career, but as a stepping stone towards dentistry, especially once I found out the job market for what I studied. I decided to just finish it and move on basically. For accounting, I had something to prove: That I am smart enough to do well in college. What I failed to mention was that I didn't apply myself in my science course as it was my first real university experience. My other school was a small art school. My major issue at the time of predent was not that I wasn't interested, but that I didn't apply myself early on and had let procrastination take over. Outside of school, I volunteered and shadowed heavily as I loved the field and saw it as a great future for myself. Stupid I know. So over the years, I always felt that I wasn't smart enough so when I signed up for accounting courses, I did the opposite, I studied daily and worked hard. I ended up being the top of the class, every class I took and was constantly harassed by classmates who thought I knew everything. Did I have a strong interest in accounting? No. I had something to prove. I took accounting to not only explore, but to show myself that I was not a dumb person. That my fear of science was just that, fear. Dentistry is the only field that I had such strong interest in, but was just too lazy at that time. I find science more interesting than accounting overall I guess that's why I have my regrets.