Choosing The Right Profession Matters!

I remember when I finished high school, there was a mandatory question at every family gathering:

Have you already decided what to study in college?

My friends seemed to have their decision clear, and I was feeling some pressure because, when you are a Senior high school student, you must choose a specific area that will introduce you to that professional path you want to follow in the future.

Well, that wasn’t my case. I was an outstanding student, but I had a lot of prejudices about the difficulty and the future that awaited a girl like me in each profession, for example, that the medical profession was too difficult, that engineering was for boys and not for girls and that if you studied Marketing you would never make any money. I don’t know where those prejudices came from, because being honest, my parents always encouraged me to study whatever I wanted, and they always supported my decisions.

I took the admission exam, which is generally the one used to apply to most public and private universities in Mexico, obtained an outstanding result, got the 7th place in my city so I could have easily joined the University and degree of my choice without dealing with waiting lists or compete with other candidates. I remember standing in the line with my friends when we would hand in documents at the University, they made us fill out a form in which, among other information, we had to choose our top three career options.

My friends knew what they wanted, but I was still in a cloud of confusion regarding my professional future.

I knew that I was good with numbers, and that I liked health topics, also knew that businesses made a lot of money and that the financial health of most companies depended largely on their accounting and tax management, so at that precise moment I decided “That’s it! I’m going to be an Accountant”.

The school year began and of course, three months later I was already dissapointed and regreting my decision, it wasn’t what I envisioned for my future at all!.

The Med students were near my classroom, who came and went with their white coats making visits to the laboratories and other facilities at the University. I thought, «I want to be a doctor, but how can I change my studies now?»

At that time, changing careers was not something well seen, and although my parents always supported me in my decisions, I was afraid to even tell them that I wanted this change, so I did what I considered necessary, but considering that the next cycle of admission would start six months later, I decided to stay in Accounting in the meantime, in order to keep the study rhythm. At some point, during that time I started to get more involved with the accounting work, I felt part of it, made some friends in class and, in the end, due to my fear about leaving my new comfort zone, I got my accounting degree.

This situation led to a lot of experiences that I would have loved to avoid, a lot of frustration towards my professional life, several jobs that I never liked and, deep moments of depression due to being pigeonholed into a role that I hated, taking away gold opportunities for my future (or that’s what I thought).

A year ago, I decided to change the direction of my professional life. I have always been self-taught in topics that are important for me and within my own learning process, I understood the importance of mental health in all aspects of life, including making important decisions when you are young. At that time, my health was greatly affected by poor stress management and bad habits in general, but thanks to my brother, who, with a simple podcast recommendation, opened my mind to an unknown universe, I began to delve into mental health management, and as I learned and put into practice various techniques, I was able to heal, and my health issues were fixed , I decided to start a new degree in Psychology, already as an adult, without limitations and without prejudices.

I can say that this was one of best decisions in my life because it has also allowed me to find a new mission, at the service of others. I am constantly impressed by how the mind works and I am trying to take the courses as quickly as I can so that I can help others as soon as possible. Now everything makes sense and I live happier and more satisfied with what I do.

I have learned a lot with this experience and I would like to share that we must be very careful with what we share with our kids and teenagers, prejudices about professions, whether “you earn a lot or little money”, “professions are for men or women” and whether it is “too difficult” or “too easy” can negatively affect them when making decisions for their adult life. Although I believe that most parents allow their children to choose their own path, society is responsible for creating ideas in their minds that affect their future, those ideas must be erased and relearned, and at 18 years old you are just too young for that.

High school students must be given enough time, they must be encouraged not to believe what they have heard from others but to trust themselves; and if they need a year free for a better decision, that’s fine, it is better to start two years late than to spend 15 years of unhappiness and frustration due to a bad decision, plus they will most likely end up like I did , starting again 15 years later (but happier than ever).

Thanks for reading! What was your experience choosing career? Do you feel satisfied with your decision?