Happy Wednesday Scrippsies! I’m sure the weather is as beautiful as ever, but it’s been pretty cloudy in Dublin and I am definitely missing the sunshine.

  vs.  As promised, I will be sharing with you my list of pros and cons that I’ve made for myself regarding medical school. It ended up morphing into a list of things that I want from a job and questions I had about whether or not my life goals would fit into the timeline that medical school inserts into your life. Without further ado:

What do I want from my job?

-I want to be challenged daily

-I want to work with people, preferably kids

-I want to be able to help people

-I don’t want to do the same thing every single day

-I want to develop a relationship with the people I work with

What do I want out of my 20’s? Could medical school hinder those plans?

-I want the opportunity to travel

-I eventually want a family

Although this is a pretty short list at this point, it has given me a good idea of whether or not the medical field might be right for me. I believe that most of the things I want from my job would be fulfilled by working in medicine, which is promising.

Being away from Scripps, surrounded by new people, I’ve had the chance to reflect on myself in a completely new way and find that I am more sure of myself and my abilities as a student and more confident in who I am as a person than I might’ve realized at Scripps. I think that these are key qualities for anyone working in medicine, which is also promising.

Besides medicine, I have also been considering a Masters program, run by MIT, that specializes specifically in teaching students how to communicate science to the general public. I’d be particularly interested in examining how this sort of communication, be it writing, museum exhibits, or other forms of technology, can be geared towards kids. The program is only nine months and connects graduates with a local business or corporation at the end, with examples such as The Boston Globe and Boston Children’s Hospital. This program is of interest to me because of the interdisciplinary approach taken to science and the arts. I have also felt torn between the two worlds and this program seems to offer a solution to the strain I often feel.

Working with kids this summer at a summer day camp, I knew that I needed to find a way to incorporate working with kids into my future occupation. At the start of the summer, I assumed that I would get bored of watching them at a certain point, or run out of things to do with them, but they always kept things lively and interesting and I always looked forward to going to work. That was the first time that I felt so certain about my future and why I would hope to work with kids if I choose to work in medicine.

Based on what I’ve just written, it’s easy to see that I am conflicted about what my future might, or should, hold. But knowing that that’s okay and giving myself time to really think about what I want for my future is comforting.

Have any stories or questions about your own path, or just want someone to bounce ideas off of? Shoot me an email, or comment below! I’d love to hear from you! ([email protected])