Career, failure Options

[demolished]

Did anyone bend your future career to something else?


Recently, my private teacher and i were talking about my future, when we were doing some real old basic algebra problems. Unfortunately, I'm not good in math. Yeah, I had a hard time working/thinking w/ these problems.

Man, i was sad. I wanted to become a space scientist after high school. I spoke to my teacher about my major and college. I thought it would be fun talking t o her about it because science is my passion. i always enjoyed science since i was a little elementary school kid. I told her that i want to major in astronomy and other astro-classes. She says, "... but, Steven. This is too hard for you. You need to know a lot of math... Most of my student w/ the same service as you didn't finish college or drop out of school"

When she mentioned "service", it's for people who have certain learning disabilities like me.

It's true that science requires a lot of math. Math is a subject that I lack/struggle the most in.

Yeah, I'm sort of depressed. All my passion for things in life is always being blown away. I don't want to end up like any teacher who once say, "I didn't really want to be a teacher, i planned to be someone else but I wasn't qualify for it/ didn't have money for it/ government problems/ something went wrong, and etc.

[Comptine]

i say... still go for it. it's your passion, isn't it? it's the thing you want to do.

i rather go to college try at something fail, knowing i gave my best and worked my hardest than to concede defeat, listen to somone else who says i can't, and wonder forever what would've happened if i just tried.

[kimmytree]

Aww
You shouldnt let just one opinion shoot you down like that. Anything's possible! Wouldnt a Space Scientist require just as much, if not more Science than actual Math?

My parents pretty much shot down and killed my idea of being a oncologist or any type of doctor. They think I'm too lazy, and just not cut out for it. Now I've lowered myself down to wanting to get my Bachelors in Nursing, and that's still not a good idea in their eyes. My dad wants me to major in either Engineering or something Buisness related... and my Mom's even worse. Last week she said "Well what about being a dental hygenist? You would only have to go to school for a year and your uncle would hire you!" She doesnt even think I'm capable of being a Nurse.

And, they've shot down my ideas for college too. My grades are decent, and my test scores are pretty high... and I really dont want to go to a public college. I would ideally like to go to a private college that's less than 10 minutes away, but my parents blew up on me when I brought it up. They went on and on about how they couldnt afford to pay 20k a year for school, and there's no way I'd be able to either. Its like, hello?!? Its called scholarships and student LOANS. I'll be damned if I'll drive 30 minutes each way, spend a freaking hour trying to find a parking spot, and get less of an education just to save a little money.

Its depressing. They dont think I'm capable of obtaining my DREAM job. Maybe I'm really not capable?

[enticinmel]

I just have to say..Don't ever let peoples words destroy your dreams and passions in life.
Just because you have issues with math doesnt mean you can't do what you've always wanted to do.
Everyone has issues with one subject or another..find someone who can help you with math in a way that is easy for you to understand and learn. I loved math and science in school but hated government and economics...it was horrid! Thing is I realized it was the teacher and how it was being taught that made it hard and boring.
You can do whatever you put in your mind to do!

[Comptine]

happykmd there's also financial aid also. and i want to be a doctor too. it's hard work but a lot of times in med school, people you think should make it don't and those who didn't show a lot of promise but really wanted it turned out to be succesful. but...oncology is really depressing, especially if it's in peds also.

ideally, it's your life, you're the one whose going to college, and you're the one who has to do the work. your parents shouldn't be the one making the decisions or anyone else for that matter.

[*Intercourse.*]

Man Steven, that made me feel really sad. I think you need one of those. I hope I really stick to what I want to be, it seems that most things that you need to know though I guess I don't really lack in.


I think you can be anything you want to be if you set your mind to it enough.

[*Frénésie*]

Well, I wanted to be a stripper but I wasn't / still not 'fully' developped.
I wanted to be a runway model, but I'm too short.
I want(ed) to be a fashion designer but I can't draw.

Hm hm. I'm 18 and I'm still clueless about my future career. But I'm quite certain that I'm going to London College of Fashion. To study what? I don't know.

You'll survive. You have to.

[clarity]

This made me sad. Don't ever let anyone put you down! You can always achieve your goals. You may have trouble getting there, but you'll get there. And you can always get extra help w/ tutors, etc to improve your math skills. I have a learning disability, and I don't catch on subjects like history, science, or english very well so I may have problems achieving what I want for my Career. It may take extra help, extra time, etc but I'm going to fallow through with it and you should too.

[LOWinSKANK]

i say... still go for it. it's your passion, isn't it? it's the thing you want to do.

srsly. if it`s something that you are THAT passionate about, you can do it regardless of whatever problems you may have, you`ll get over those problems, you just might have to work a little harder at it than some people.

[think!IMAGINARIL...]

Steven, don't give up.
Don't let anyone discourage you; don't believe in whatever they say. Anything is possible if you try hard enough. If you're struggling in math, I can help. Math is one of my strong suits. Don't be sad. If you need some encouragement, just talk to me or something. You're not gonna end up like your teacher, I'll be here to help you.
You're still learning, there's still time for you to progress. Just believe that you can do it. Never give up on your dreams.


Around the same time last year, I wanted to major in business. I dunno, it's just.. my parents encouraged me to become a stock broker or something like that because I was good with money. I spent a while thinking about it, and finally came to the conclusion that I didn't want to have a stuffy, boring job like my sister. I want to have a job that can help me learn.
At the same time, I was in an astrophysics program. It was something I really liked and I thought that it would be a good career for me. I thought a lot about this and reached the conclusion that being a spectroscopist/astronomer would be better than having a business-related job. At first, my parents thought that it wasn't a good subject for me because science isn't a good subject for a girl, but I changed their minds when I started spending large amounts of money at the mall and blowing their trust. Somewhere along the line, I met some people that helped me with my dreams. I was still considering a job in business, but my they made my love for astronomy grow. At that time, I was sure I wanted to be something in astronomy. Astrophysicist, aeronauticist, engineer, astrobiologist, anything that had to do with astronomy.
It's when I started thinking about college that made me sad. I sometimes look back and think that the colleges (Caltech, Stanford, Columbia, etc) that I want to get into would be impossible for me. My first term as a freshman just really sucked. My average barely hit 90. My parents always told me "If you want to get into Caltech, you're gonna have to do better in school." What they said really hurt me because I thought that I was really trying my best in school, but apparently not. Now, I'm doing better in school and I've definitely set my mind to becoming an astrobiologist.
There's still 3 years left for me to decide, so maybe I'll change my dream to some other astronomy-related job. The only thing I know for sure right now is that definitely I want to major in astronomy..

[Jeng]

I wanted to be in the medical field when I was little, I chose to be a nurse when I grow up and sticking to it. I wanted to be a doctor, but my parents said I wouldn't do good. :[

[*mipadi*]

Let me share a little anecdote. I only studied math for three years in high school. I never got past trigonometry and probability. I entered college as an English major.

Then I made the leap to computer science. It's what I had always wanted to do, but I was afraid of the math—I wasn't sure I could do it. And truth be told, it's been hard; comp sci involves a fair amount of theoretical math, and math is definitely not my best subject. But I've worked at it, and gotten a lot better.

I've long wanted to be a comp sci researcher, but that involves an advanced degree—usually a Ph.D.—and I didn't know if I was good enough to get that. But then, out of nowhere, my research advisor told me that he thought a Ph.D. program would be "easy" for me, and I should consider becoming a professor.

So if you want something, go for it. You know what you need to do: study math harder. Keep working at it. Scientists aren't anyone special; they've just worked really hard to learn what they need to learn. Working hard will get you farther than any raw intelligence ever will. I'm not one of the top CS students because I'm a genius, nor did I win a competitive research grant because I'm smarter than anyone else; I've just worked harder and put more effort into my studies, and gone above and beyond what I've learned in the classroom, and showed real enthusiasm for my work. So just work hard and do what you want; it'll work out in the end.

[AngelinaTaylor]

Are you kidding, why give up? If I gave up every time somebody shot me down, I would've been.. dead by now, haha.

One opinion doesn't mean everything. AND there is always room for improvement.

In my field (music), there will be people who love you AND people who hate you - no matter what. People have told me how great of a performer I am, while others have basically told me that I suck. Just ignore the latter and you'll be fine =)

So yeah.. just keep doing what you're doing. I would never give up if I were you.

[krnxswat]

For people who are saying 'you can be anything you want.' Truth be told, you can't. So shut with your garbages.

[*Intercourse.*]

^You know I was kind of thinking that when I was writing it

I think if you set your mind on it enough though and you have the determination to be what you want then at least you have a higher chance the the ones that don't have the passion and determination.

[multifaceted]

Yes. My passion was to become a violinist until my dad (and the fact that I hurt my wrist from practicing severely) told me that I shouldn't depend on my hands for my career.

[alysaphobia]

awww
as others have said, please don't give up!
there are so many things in life we could all accomplish if we didn't just give up along the way. you know... who's to tell you to quit, anyways? no matter what other people may tell you, internally, don't ever agree with them and decide to quit working at it. keep this in your mind: your own efforts will never betray you. your own efforts will never betray you. your own efforts will never betray you. ... i've found this proven over and over again.

math can be a really difficult thing, but if you put in a lot of effort in day by day, you WILL get better. it can be extremely frustrating when you don't see progress because it's not a steady, progressing growth all the time, but none of your time spent will be in waste. ever.

and to answer your question... i have had people tell me how it'd be impossible for me to become a doctor countless amount of times now. even our school counsellors say how being accepted to a medical school as an international student is exceedingly difficult and expensive. i'm still working through this, but i'm going to try to study harder than ever from now.