Practical career choices, do we have to make them sometimes?

The essence of this article revolves around the dilemma of choosing a practical career (i.e. financially lucrative) or a career that interests you (i.e. maybe not so lucrative), based on circumstances surrounding your economic situation, family responsibilities/expectations and career interest. This is a personal anecdote, and not meant to be generalizations for everyone--take and pick what resonates with you.

As an undergraduate, I thought of pursuing a career in medicine and started out as a biology major, based on family expectations and economic situation. But I was bored by chemistry, neurology, biology, etc. I ended up not putting in the effort nor time when it came to studying for those classes--and fell short of my own expectations. I had often wondered about my biology classmates who bore similiar familial expectations, and whether the effort they were putting in were their own or they were living up to someone else's. But looking back now, maybe they understood something that maybe I didn't back then. Maybe they've got to choose practicality over (maybe) their own interest for their long term future, and maybe they'll be able to live out their own interests in the future. The difficulties faced with keen competition in science and engineering courses makes it more difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but somehow, there has to be a maturity to enable self-discipline to go through that competitive process. However, once you're out of it, the road ahead paves way for long-term benefits such as financial stability. Not that this is the end-all and be-all of why you should choose a certain career, but financial stability is something that enables you to do more things and provides you with more options in your life and career path (e.g. a doctor can be a consultant, but a consultant can't be a doctor). I'll touch upon this later in the article with my personal anecdote on my dilemma with wealth. 

On a sidenote however, the other question to ask is whether you have the aptitude for science, medicine and engineering. Not everyone has the aptitude for the field, so you have to be practical about your skill level.

Back to my story, in short, I came away with a Psychology degree that counted most of my biology courses and I took on another major that interested me, Rhetoric & Communication. I took the path that was, to me, easier to deal with--the stiff competition of the science and technical courses wore me down, and I had wanted to enjoy more of my college experience. However, what that also did was lead me on a path that was not so clearly defined, and lead me towards the unknown. I was offered a job abroad in Cairo for a year, and took it. It was more or less a year of discovery and growing, but it had lead me more into the unknown. It ended up being I took a sort of laissez faire approach to my career, and came upon a government job, but quit since I found the field to be unsavory. Neither of these jobs provided me with much financial resources. 

Then came graduate school, hoping that it would enable a better career path. I picked something that interested me: International Relations and Business (based on my abroad experiences). But as of late, I'm wondering if I was practical in my choosen industry and career choice. On some level, it's a decent choice, and it's a good field to be in as I'll be making a decent salary, but I wonder if I should've stuck to to a technical field that would have given me more leverage financially. Having just finished graduate school and currently looking for employment, I've got student debt and have little resources financially. Coming from a working class family, I have the highest level of education in my family, but I've nothing to offer them. And all this time they were the ones who were supporting me. 

After a discussion yesterday, I discovered my sister needs to have a $50,000 surgery for a prosthodontistic surgery to correct her teeth, or else it will have long-term consequences on her dental and facial structure. In short, I'm left to wonder about my abilities to help her and discovered that I have none, and this makes me extremely anxious and disappointed. As I discovered one of my core values, I came to terms with what wealth means to me: it enables me to take care of my family and those whom I love, and enables me to at least be a resource to them. People tend to say that you have no responsibilities to anyone but yourself, but I wholeheartedly disagree. It is true you need to take care of you, but for me, that includes being able to be there for my family.

This article came about as my doubts about career paths and career choices had plagued me since I discovered my sister's need for an operation. I'm often left to wonder about my nomadic approach to life as of late, since I have no spouse nor children, and the consequences of my decision. A nomadic life is lived for the present, not the past nor the future. However, I am wondering if I should start living for the future, and take that "mature" approach to life, and look at things long-term, for the sake of my family. This requires the self-discipline and long-term outlook, and a change in my nomadic lifestyle. I am lucky enough to be living in an economy that offers more choices for careers and career changes. However, I'm left to wonder if my chances for a career that offers financial stability is over, since I've now just entered my 30s?