What do you think is more important, a job you love or a job that pays well?
Posted by admin
CYPRESS asked:
I’m a high school student in several honors and AP classes (no intention of bragging here), due mostly to the support of my parents. They want me to go to a good college and study to become a pharmacist (or anything that happens to be medical) so that I will have a stable life.
I’m a high school student in several honors and AP classes (no intention of bragging here), due mostly to the support of my parents. They want me to go to a good college and study to become a pharmacist (or anything that happens to be medical) so that I will have a stable life.
However, more than anything, I love art. Painting, sculpting, theater, fashion… etc. I have always been an artist at heart. In the US, however, art really does not offer a steady pay to support a family.
My parents say that I can be a pharmacist with an art hobby on weekends. To pursue such a career, I will need to devote several years of study to pharmacy, and really my only motivation is my parent’s hopes for me having a stable life. (These studies don’t interest me in the least)
There’s a lot to weigh on each side. What do you think? Should I go to an art college and do the things I love most, or study to become a pharmacist and fufill my parents’ dreams and live a successful life?
DONNELL
November 10th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
JERRY
My advice….go to college and find yourself before making any lifelong decision about what you want to do. Most people change majors several times. I too was an AP student upon entering college. I majored in Interior Design, then History, then Fine Art, then Sociology, then Parks and Recreation, and then Sociology again. I graduated with a BS in Sociology, and I am still not doing anything remotely related to that field. You will find that a whole new and exiting world awaits you in college, where you will finally really learn about yourself. Let your path come to you as it does. Don’t rush, for now just be yourself and explore the possibilies college can offer you.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:30 am
PARKER
No doubt about it. A job you love is by far more important. You only have this one life. Going for the money seems to put everything out of sync.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
GENE
Unfortunatly, money is an important thing in life, and if you don’t have a stable and good paying backround it becomes so hard to do what you love. I have tried despirtly to pursue my love for writting, but in this real world, it is hard to make a living on just a dream. If i did not learn to do something on the side I would have no money to do what i love.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
ALTON
Well, I decided to do what I wanted to instead of listening to my parents. Now I work for little to nothing, live in a tiny apartment that’s only half furnished because I don’t make enough money to fill even that tiny of a space. AND I’m still working a “regular” job instead of anything even remotely close to artsy. Why, you ask? Because I don’t make enough to even buy supplies. Please, please, PLEASE…just go ahead and finish pharmacy school. Especially if your parents are paying for it. That way even if you decide that it’s not for you, you have that to “fall back on.” Parents know these things. They only want what’s best for you.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:02 am
TRENT
all you need is love
-John Lennon
what’s love got to do with it?
-Tina Turner
Uhhhhhh………..what do you think?
Is there anything that says you can’t be an artistic pharmacist? I am a pianist, my brother paints. Neither of us in starving to death in some rat-infested loft apartment.
November 20th, 2009 at 6:18 am
DOUG
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November 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 am
TROY
Compromise. There are medical fields that pay well and only require one or two years.
Major in that and minor in art.
I had a friend I went to school with for Respiratory Therapy. He had inherited some money and went to the U of Tex to study law. It was so expensive he had to quit after one year. No money coming in. So he answered an ad from a local Jr. College took a one year course in RT and went to work at a living wage and returned to school and is now a lawyer.
Work it out. There is always a compromise.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
CRAIG
I think you should study to become a pharmacist and then become an artist at your spare time. There are just too many starving artists. There isn’t many starving pharmacist.
The advantages of becoming a pharmacist are:
1) Most jobs are 9-5 meaning that you will have time for family
2) It takes less time to finish and be licensed compared to dentistry
3) Most starting salary are 75-150k depending on location and need
4) You can get $1,000,000 malpractice insurance for only hundreds of dollars per year. compare that to medicine and dentristry
5) You will have a life and a job for the rest of your life
6) for more information
November 26th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
FEDERICO
when i was young i preferred to be payed well,the older i get i began to prefer the job i love
November 27th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
LEROY
Sounds like maybe your parents should go to school and be a pharmacist or anything that happens to be medical.
I think you should do what your heart and passion for life tells you to do.
I understand what your parents are saying, but you have to enjoy what you do. I believe we do what we love best. If you are a smart and talented person, I believe you will excel no matter what you choose to do. Your parents should have that faith in you.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:50 am
RONNIE
You can do both! Since you are very creative you can do both.
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
DOMINIC
Yes you really should ask your heavenly father about this and guide you.
December 4th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
REID
I have had a good job that paid very well but the long hours and the constant demands at that job were very tough for me and my family. I was miserable so I found a different field to work in. The money is not the best but I am happier and that made all the difference in the world to me and my family. Goood luck. I know its not an easy choice but you will do the right thing.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
MALCOLM
A job that pays well. It’s not even close.
I wish I were in your shoes.Go to pharmacy school! You’ll always be able to feed yourself and your family. My experience (about 45 years spent in one school or another) is that even stuff you think is boring at first becomes interesting the more you find out about it.
Please don’t go get a degree that won’t help you feed your kids (when you have them). I love art too, I do, but please go to school for something that will give you financial independence. Art won’t do it; pharmacy will.
Whatever you decide, good luck!