Friday, July 20, 2012

Big Decisions

I am rolling right along with my masters program.  Were you curious about how that was going?  Well, it's going great!  I am actually taking a class this summer and it is so interesting and motivating and makes me want to GET OUT THERE RIGHT NOW AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  It's a good feeling.

Of course, there is a cost to taking classes while working full time and being a mom.  It's exhausting.  And that's okay, it's only for a short time, but I want to make sure all this effort and time is worth it.  I want to come out the other end of this with a focus and more importantly, with the potential for a new career.  I have loved the work I have done in the environmental field for the last seven years, but I know I am ready for a change. I see the area of public health as a way I can make a difference, and I am so excited to have that opportunity on the horizon.

I met yesterday with an advisor about where I want to spend my time in the field.  This degree requires 200 hours of field work, and where I choose to spend my time will have a lot to do with where I get a job after graduation.  So she asked me," what do I want to do?"

I have no idea.  Or not really  NO idea, but I have so many ideas.  So many wonderful sounding ideas that I cannot seem to make myself choose one.  There are big decisions like do I want to stay at the University and work in research or do I want to do more on the ground work and be stationed in a health department?  And then more specific questions.  Do I want to work in women's health, in cancer research or treatment, in equality within our city?  Do I want to focus on bring vaccines to the masses?  Do I want to help fight obesity and diabetes? Do I want to do broad stroke research on why violence against women occurs and how to stop it? 

Everything.  I want to do everything.  And that is a good problem to have.  I can't decide how I want to make a difference, because it all sounds worth my time and energy.  So I have some thinking to do over the next couple weeks.  Where to place my focus.  I think I have already decided to divide my time evenly between research and the health department, but as of a specific area of focus, I am just not sure.  But what I do know already, is that this will be a life changing experience.  And I cannot wait.

2 comments:

  1. I remember those days in grad school. Just know that whatever decision you make, will be the right one. You WILL make a difference!

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  2. Oh wow, this all sounds so exciting and such an amazing opportunity.

    I do know that feeling of wanting to do so much and not knowing which way to turn. Since my pregnancy I have been working hard to read research on HG and connect with a charity and other HG survivors to write a book about it. It has been hard because I am not medically trained and makes my head hurt (!) but it is something I am hugely passionate about. But it does mean I haven't written about Endo for such a long time. And then there's depression and how therapy has helped both Tim and me to both heal from the trauma of my pregnancy and find peace about our decision to never have another baby. And although these things are on a different level to the decisions you've got to make, they are still hard decisions to know which one to focus on. I do not envy you this choice, but I am so very excited for you and cannot wait to hear about which way you choose to go.

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