Back to School, little bit anxious

Hey guys,

Some of you may remember that I lost my job back in august. For the last 5 years I worked at Brookstone Co, in the IT dept. Prior to that, I worked for Baxter Healthcare in largo FL, and while I enjoyed the job at Baxter, I feel I wasted nearly 10 years of my life on nothing. I swore I would not do it again and darned if I didn't do just that, 5 years wasted on a job I hated. Now at the age of 41 I am going back to school full time, this time I am getting into radiology.

While home theater and audio are my love, I just don't see anyway I can make a living in it. My second choice is the healthcare field. I enjoy helping others but I still wonder if I am making the right choice. My wife is an RN so it will be nice that we are in the same field, but I still am a little nervous that I am doing the right thing. The only thing I am really sure of is that I do NOT want to work on computers for the rest of my career. So starting later this month I will have a heck of a lot homework to do.

Hey Jeff,

My best friend graduated UM accounting program back in 1984, he passed his CPA exam on the first shot, landed a job in one of "the big 8" accounting firms, DeLoitte (spelling?) something and something (too many names). He hated it, worked for approximately 9 months and decided to quit, formed a bus shelter advertising business with his dad and two partners, after 5 years sold company to GE for a few million, after paying his dad and partners, he invested in a couple of liquor stores, he worked the stores to maximize profits, he hated it. He stuck with it for a while, I convinced him to go back to school (he had 2 young girls at the time) knowing his personality (not easy)and try law school, to make long story short: graduated at 43 years of age second in his class (UM), sold liquor stores, works for Hogan, Hartson (largest law firm in US if I'm not mistaken)for the first time in his professional career is happy. Moral of story: never give up, double your resolve it will pay in the end. Be ready for sacrifices. My wife switched from teaching elementary school to law and has never looked back, my brother in law coudn't finish medicine in Europe so he took up physical therapy, he's doing great.

I hope this has been inspirational.

Strat, thanks. I read somewhere that people change their careers 3 times in their lifetime. Well this will be my third.

Just stick with it, you'll do fine.


Good Luck back in school.

Congrats Jeff.

Congrats on going back to school Jeff; I agree it's tough going back. It was the best choice I ever made though. I already had a couple degrees before going back, but I wasn't doing what I really thought I was supposed to do. Now I am, and it feels good. Only thing I suggest if you haven't working in radiology before, make sure you can handle the monotony. Before going to medical school, I thought I was going to become a radiologist. Then I worked a few months in the radiology dept to gain exposure just in my spare time during the classroom years, and I just couldn't handle doing the same thing again and again with so little patient interaction. I love the science behind radiology, but it isn't the specialty for me. If you can do it for years and stay happy, it will remain in demand. Best of luck Jeff & study hard!!!
Brad

Jeff,

That's a big move, especially going back to school. Sometimes the best move is to simply make a move. If you were not happy in your current line of work, why not take a change and move on. I spent the better part of 10 years in the mortgage/finance field and did very well, but the stress level of middle and upper management was really taxing. I needed to make a move.

My love has always been building/construction, and I had no idea how to make money doing it. I had the management/sales skills, but no hands on experience. I hooked up with a large construction company I used to do financing for as an independent estimator. My family thought I was nuts after I purchased a large pick up, ladders, levels, etc...

That was back in 2001. I'll probably do this for another several years, then try something else (retire at age 42 and work as a golf pro ). At first I thought it was nuts to work for myself, without benefits. After doubling my income, I never looked back.

It seems as I look back, every major move I made was always for the better. Some say you only get one shot in life - but that's not always true. The way time flies, it seems if you make a move and put your heart into it, it generally works out for the better. If you enjoy what you do, you'll be more productive and have a better outlook on life.

Good luck in school, and enjoy your new field.

Jeff,
Good luck and it's great that you make the decision to go back to school. I myself, studied Civil Engineering and the switch to Bus. Admin in the grad school. Talking bout change of careers, I taught several courses, worked as superintendent in a construction company and lastly, i am an accountant right now. I'm not really satisfied with my job right now. I feel i don't use my brain to its real capacity. I can finish my daily job in 3 hours max but instead i have to sit for 8 hours. To make it look like it's hard, i stretch it by typing and reading AH.. . Every move you make, you won't know until you are there. The first step is the hardest step. Just go with your gut.
Good Luck!

good luck! it's gonna be nice to go back to school all matured up.

I took a year of law school before deciding that it was going to take too much of my life (5 years law school plus a few more years of practice before getting married).

Thanks guys, I am registering for classes today.

Jeff,

I'm only a few years younger than you. I've been going to school for the past two years and I can tell you it is not as bad as you may remember. I'm not saying it doesn't require any work on your part, just that when you have been out in the world for a bit you pick up little pieces of random info on many topics that most 18-25 year olds haven't had the opportunity to experience yet. I was surprised how unenlightened some of the younger students were on many topics. An example was the Sociology classes I took. I was surprised how many of the topics and oddities related to it I had run across over the past many years. It turned out to be a fairly easy course for me, yet the youngins' in class were struggling and with the concepts.

Bottom line is: you'll be fine once you get into the swing of things. All those trips to the doctor and tv shows over the years will give you a basic familiarity with some of the words and concepts offered to you in class that you may not have had when you first went to school. The hardest part I found was I had forgotten some of the most basic types of info - example: My first day of class my professor asked me to give three adjectives that best described me. My answer; "Uh, dude, I've been outta school awhile, what's an adjective?" True story.

Best of luck

Jack

jeffsg4mac said:

Strat, thanks. I read somewhere that people change their careers 3 times in their lifetime. Well this will be my third.

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You got balls of steal man ,to change careers at this point in your life is a huge move & surely takes a big set,many times over the last 24 years ive wanted to switch gears as your doing but never grew a set big enough now im at the point i only have 9 years to go until i can retire but i still feel as if i could have done alot more.

Good for you in doing what most people only dream of.

highfihoney said:

You got balls of steal man ,to change careers at this point in your life is a huge move & surely takes a big set,.

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LOL Either that or I am dumb as a fern. Thanks!!