When I grow up...

Recently I have decided that I do not want to be in the insurance industry anymore. “Why?” you might ask? Well for starters, because it is insurance. Enough said, right? If that is not enough of a reason, there is a long list of other reasons…

It isn’t fulfilling.

It’s full of bureaucratic b.s.

It is full of shady shady people, and usually they are the ones in charge.

You get ahead based on who you know and how much you kiss their butt, rather than what you know and how hard you work.

You pour hours and hours of your personal time into trying to be caught up and on top of things so that you aren’t looked at negatively and your efforts are rewarded with more work.

I feel like I could go on for days about the reasons why I know longer want to work in the insurance industry, but it would not do any good. I decided that I needed to do something to make a change rather than complaining. I needed to make a life change...

Quarter life crisis, party of 1?

When I started thinking about what I wanted to do, my mind was all over the place. I could go to law school like I had originally planned. I could become a college professor and teach Sociology or Criminology. I could go work at Starbucks and get free Chai Tea Lattes and spread cups full of happiness. I could run away and join the circus… wait, no, that’s not a real option, although I have considered it several times.

I am so jealous of the people who always knew what they wanted to be. How nice it must be to have discovered your purpose early on and were able to pursue it. I didn’t want to work in insurance, I just landed there. And while I had passion and excitement for a while, that has all been sucked out of me!

When I was in high school I wanted to be a doctor. When I got to college, I wasn’t serious enough to go through the steps. That’s when I discovered Sociology, Criminal Justice and Law and I fell in love. But, after college I wanted to make money rather than go to school more and I ended up in insurance.

Over the past couple months, I have been looking into the medical field more, and I finally landed on something! I could be a Physicians Assistant! They basically can do everything a doctor does, but under the supervision of a doctor. So I could examine patients, prescribe medication, order and read diagnostic tests and perform procedures. I found a program through Tri-C and Cleveland State – 28 months and I would have a Master’s Degree and a certificate! It sounds perfect for me!

I went to an information session at Tri-C. The program is very intense. 28 months of full time, all year around the clock school. No time for working, family, friends or fun.

And that’s the down side…

No working.

We would basically need to make it thorough 2 ½ years on 1 person’s income. Also, where do kids fit in to all of this? Yeah, they don’t…

So, now it is back to the drawing board to find something that I really want to do with my life. Realistically, I know that I will either need to go back to school or start out again at the very beginning of any other field, which I don’t mind. I just want to find something that I love to do and feel happy doing.

So the question now is – What do I want to be when I grow up?