<p>I'll try to explain my complex situation with as much brevity as possible. I am turning 21 (Is it funny I think I'm so old already?) right before 2012 and I have one more semester to finish up my 2.5 year Professional Studies degree at Bergen Community College. The reason why I entered a CC with a nonscientific major was due to the fact that I didn't have the slightest clue of what I wanted to major in. Since this was my predicament, my best choice was to enter CC to test out the fields despite my 4.2 average in HS. While all my education has been free due to scholarships at this point, I have to pay almost 6 figures for a surgery I need that would need almost a one year recovery before I start my "real" education in some NY or NJ four year school. So, not only did the CC take up my time, but the surgery will on top of that. Since I'll be finishing my education a lot older than most coupled with how much money I have to spend on surgery, being an MD is out of the question. I love science and have a passion for anything medical, so I decided my possible majors would be Pharmacy, Perfusion, or a CNRA. </p>
<p>My first choice is pharmacy since I'm very interested in medical science and how drugs work within the body. I like to say I have a great memory, so I believe memorizing a bunch of drug names won't be a challenge for me. I'm an introverted person who barely joins the social scene, so I can't see the workload being too much for me to handle with no friends or social demands to worry about. If I do pursue the pharmacy major, I will either major in Clinical Lab Science that would take 3 years to complete and go to Pharmacy school from there or join the 7 year accelerated pharmacy program through Fairleigh Dickinson college. (Does one choice in particular sound better than the other?) My issue is, being that I live in the NJ/NYC area and I'm not willing to relocate, will the job prospects for pharmacists in let's say, 2018-2020 be dismal? My greatest fear is all that rigorous studying and debt would go to waste once I enter the job market. This is why my Plan B and Plan C is either becoming a Perfusionist or CNRA. The negative side to becoming a Perfusionist is even though I enjoy being around a surgical setting and having a valuable role in contributing to important surgery, the schedule of the job scares me since it's on an "on call" basis. I know this sounds silly, but I don't want anything so demanding and so unpredictable that my sleep would be disrupted. I'm overly paranoid about my brain power and health, so I just can't sacrifice are my hours of sleep. Concerning becoming a CRNA, my biggest fear is that I won't have any prestige or be seen as intelligent. I once heard somebody say "Nurses are glorified janitors" and "Nurses are the too stupid ones who couldn't get into Med school." When I heard these opinions, I literally wanted to cry. Another negative of going to nursing school is that you're very pigeon holed as far as the type of careers you can enter. So, my question is: Is pursuing Pharmacy a wise option considering the year I'll graduate by and my location? Am I better off with my other majors that interest me? Thank you kindly.</p>