<p>I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands right now... I'll give some back story on my situation first before I dive into questions. I am currently attending a private liberal arts college, and I absolutely love it here; it was my first choice on my list of colleges I applied to a while back, and it is a good school in my opinion. One of the reasons I like it there is that there are many different learning opportunities; the college doesn't specialize in just one field. They offer just about any class that you could possibly want to take (and I mean that, there are so, so many unique classes available!) or any field you want to major in, it seems, except for... there is no dental hygiene program. Back when I first applied and started going to school here, I didn't have much of an idea with what I wanted to major in or what kind of career I wanted. Since I have been in college, I have done a lot of research on different careers that interest me, and ultimately I have really taken an interest in becoming a dental hygienist. The problem is, as I said before, my college has no dental hygiene (d.h.) program, so if I were to pursue such a career, I would have to transfer schools. </p>
<p>I've talked to my parents briefly about this, but not in much detail, because I've just begun my freshman year, and plus, they weren't very supportive of my interest in becoming a dental hygienist. They told me that it would be "a waste of a good education" if I pursued such a career and transferred to a school that has a d.h. program. Or, my mom will say, "You won't want to do that for the rest of your life!" The thing is, I believe I would be happy doing just that. I know that they want me to have a "great" career, or I guess what they think is great to them, which is, a well-paying career that makes you think, as a psychologist, veterinarian, etc., or, when I talked to them about d.h., they said I should try to be a dentist instead. And I understand why they want that, because they want me to be successful and make enough money to support myself... but I don't think they know enough about dental hygienists to make assumptions that it's a "bad" career. D.h. do make good money (according to U.S.News.com Careers, their average salary is $69,280 a year, which to me is pretty nice), they do have to be smart and think on the job (you're helping ensure that people have healthier teeth and gums, for heaven's sake!), they don't have to sit in a tiny cubicle all day for 10 hours, and they get to interact with patients and hopefully teach them to have healthier habits! That, to me, is a good job... it has good pay, social interaction rather than isolation, movement rather than cubicle work, and doing work that is enjoyable.</p>
<p>When I say all of this, I am not trying to act negatively towards my parents at all... I love my parents, and they are wonderful, caring people; but, they just don't think that me becoming a d.h. would be good because it requires less education than some careers (d.h. programs are usually 2 years long, versus a traditional 4-year undergraduate education). As I said above, just because most d.h. programs are 2 years does not mean that it is a bad career option.</p>
<p>I have been looking at some colleges that have good d.h. programs, and from what I have read so far, if I were to transfer, say, at the end of sophomore year at my current college and go to a transfer school as an incoming junior, then I would have to make sure that I had taken all of the courses the transfer school required me to take to enter their d.h. program. These required courses have so far been the same for the few colleges I have begun looking at (ex: physiology, nutrition, microbiology, etc.), and the college I am attending offers all of them. </p>
<p>So, this is a bit off-topic, but I feel bad that I am thinking about transferring schools. I really like the college that I am attending right now. I really do. I know that if I graduate from there, that I would be well-prepared for life after college in the big ol' world. But, I'm worried that if I stay here rather than transfer, and major in "X," that I won't have found a career that I am passionate about, and I'll be stuck doing something that I won't enjoy. Just putting that out there... any thoughts on this in particular?</p>
<p>I know I don't want to be a doctor, or a dentist running a private practice and managing her own employees... it's just not my thing. I would much rather be a dental hygienist. To me, I think I would be very happy doing that as my career. The job growth for dental hygienists is pretty decent right now, and to me, the pay is good. For me, I am less concerned with how much money I make (well, I obviously want to make enough to support myself, haha!); I am more concerned with how much I would enjoy my future career, and I really feel like I would be happy as a d.h.</p>
<p>Wow, I apologize for the lengthiness and possible repetitiveness, but that was my spiel. So, can anyone give me advice on how to handle this? For instance, on how I can convince my parents to allow me to transfer schools the end of my sophomore year at this college? Or just give me your thoughts on anything that I said, haha. Thank you!</p>