I came into Baruch with the intent of studying finance or accounting and putting myself on the track to a well-paying job. I knew that being a financial broker or an investor was one of the rare jobs that would pay well and not be tedious. The pressure from my parents and society as a whole pushed me to consider a career that pays well over a career that i would be interested in. One day when I was sitting in business class, our professor told us how boring and tiresome he thought accounting to be. That caused me to start thinking about whether I would be able to sit in an office, counting other people’s or business’s money. I knew that I didn’t have the slightest interest in learning about the economy for my whole college career and that what I really was interested in is learning about people and why they do the things they do. After discussing it thoroughly with my parents, I decided that it was in my best interests to rather pursue a psychology degree where I can study what I love and spend my life working a job that I enjoy. Sure, being a psychologist or even a psychiatrist isn’t an easy, unique, or luxurious career, but I believe that when a person does what he loves for a living, he will live his life more joyously and positively than working a daily job that you despise or are bored in.
This caused me to think about how college students decide what career they will pursue in the future. Nowadays, social and economic pressure causes students to worry more about how they will make a living for themselves (and maybe their families) over what they want to spend the rest of their lives doing. For example, an animal lover that wants to take care of animals for the rest of his/her life might want to become a zookeeper, but will realize that this career will not allow her to live a luxurious life style as well. It seems that everyone I talked to is mostly focused on the money-section of careers rather than the interest-section. I believe that a person should pick a job that interests him/her over the amount that it pays because a person should go to work every day excited rather than settle for a job and count down the hours until he/she gets to go home. After all, there’s a famous quote that says if you work at a job you love, it doesn’t feel like you’re working at all. Some people love their work so much that they fully incorporate it into their lives and can’t tell the difference between “work” and “play”. For example, we all saw a TV show or read in a book about a cop or detective that can’t tell when they’re on the job or not because they’re always on the job. Many people might even find the perfect balance between the job of their dreams and the job that solves all their financial questions. But for everyone else that can’t find this opportunity for both wealth and interest, I believe that choosing the interesting job will bring you more happiness and joy than a high-paying job which gives you materialistic things can.
What job would you choose: the wealthy one or the interesting one?
