Hi everyone,
I’m currently a junior in high school, and like my peers, college has become my primary concern over the past few years. What I choose to do with my life will have a heavy impact on my major that I pursue and the college that I attend. With that in mind, I’ve been doing research on jobs for the future.
My family immigrated from China when I was really young, and because of my age, I received all my education in America. My parents do not speak English, and because of that, we do not have a great income since decent jobs require English in one way or another.
Ever since I was young, my parents encouraged me to do well in school and stressed the importance of education. Heck, they even wanted me to pursue a certain career, and you’ll never guess what it is! -sarcasm- That’s right, a doctor!
Jokes aside, in recent years, I began to see medicine as a not-so-great career to pursue. Becoming a doctor will require me to study for 8 years, and 3-8 of internship/ fellowship/ residency (also need to specialize because general practitioners are becoming obsolete in my opinion). Heck, I’ll probably be an old man by the time I’m actually practicing on my own. Not to mention my massive debt (my family doesn’t make much, so I don’t except too much parental contribution).
And with that said, I need a little help on career choice.
Since becoming a doctor is out of the window, I’ve been looking for careers with a few criteria. (1.) I want a career that require me to attend school for 4~6 years, (2.) a lot of openings in the future (so finding a job wouldn’t be too difficult) [also, I live in NY, if that affects it in any way], and (3.) earns a fair amount without too much stress.
Also, my strong point are science and a bit of math.
A couple of careers fits my criteria, but each has its pros and cons (also, if you have any suggestions, feel free to respond, thanks!)
- Biomedical Engineering This looks like my best bet since it relates to my interests. Only problem is that it is a relatively new field (and so not entirely standardized) and I'd be required to obtain a master's degree for a job since biomed engineering as a bachelors is just a jack of all trade. Also, internships that directly relate to biomed are hard to find, or so I am told. Good thing is that there's a great school not too far from where I live that has a great graduate program for it (Stony Brook).
- Dental Hygienist Education shouldn't be too bad for this career and a lot of sites lists this as a great career for the future. The problem is that the only school (Farmingdale State College) that has this program close to my area is a little.. uhhh, how do I put this? I guess, not too well known elsewhere. Heck, my sister told me that one year, the program only had two graduates. I'm not sure how I should take this, does it mean that everyone dropped out or is the program not great? My grades are significantly different from those who usually go here too. Regardless, income is decent and still relates to my interests.
- App Developer Also relates to my interest, but I'm not exactly a creative person. A lot of sites lists this as one of the great careers for the future (also a lot of job openings). I have zero experience in terms of smartphone apps (not too big of a fan of smartphones either). I'm not exactly sure what kind of education I'd need for this.
There’s a couple more, but I don’t think I’ll be pursing them. Anyways, I think I’m going to pursue biomed engineering but I’m not too sure yet. As stated before, it’s a relatively new field and because of that, I can’t find too much info on it. Is job openings expected to be plentiful for this field in the future? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!
Also, if this is in the wrong section of the forums, I apologize. Please move it if need be. Thanks.
