Wednesday, April 24, 2013

University and Following the Right Dream




At the beginning of this year, I started my dream university course. I’d love to be able to say that it was what I had always wanted to study for, but sadly, no. You see, I used to have this mistaken idea that I wanted to be a doctor.

For years and years I kept up the idea that I was going to be a doctor. Ok, so I couldn’t name you a single thing about being a doctor that really drew me in, and I couldn’t think of a single area that I would work in, but that was a small matter really. Obviously I was meant to be a doctor.

Until I got to thinking. Did I really want to be a doctor? I spent my last school years studying chemistry (which I was very bad at), biology (that was ok), and advanced maths (which I found boring sadly, though I did ok). And I was pretty sure that I was ready to jump into this doctor’s degree.

Only, I suddenly realised that that wasn’t the right thing to do. Did I really want to be a doctor? I couldn’t be a surgeon. Even thinking about cutting people up made me feel sick. And looking after a person for more than a day was never my thing either. No, I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to be a doctor after all.

And that’s when I realised, if I didn’t have to be a doctor, I could be something else. Something exciting. Like, a writer, or an editor. Yes, for someone like me, who’s always working on some piece of writing, that sounded just perfect. Imogen Elvis, author and editor. That sounded pretty good to me.

So now I’m studying writing and publishing. I might not enjoy the sociology side of things, but I know that somewhere in the future, the writing lurks. And I’m working towards the degree that I want. And what could be better than working towards the right dream?

8 comments:

  1. So glad you figured out the "I don't want to be a doctor" thing before you got to the point when you had to actually stick someone with a needle. Hope you enjoy the writing courses!

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    1. Imagine if I hadn't found out until I was sticking a needle in a person! That could have ended up rather badly I think. Though finding it out in an operation theatre would have been even worse.

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  2. The nice thing about writing is it can be compatible with other careers too. Look at Dean Koontz who is a successful lawyer and writes wildly popular legal thrillers and Barbara Kingsolver, who draws on her biology background to write NY Times bestselling novels that feature topics like biodiversity and the impact humans have on their environment. You could do both!!!

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    1. I'm always interested to hear of people who use their other jobs as inspiration for their novels. At least if you were a lawyer, you wouldn't have to do so much research on the legal proceedings. You'll already know it.

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  3. I first went to college thinking I was going to be something that I ended up not wanting to do. Nothing wrong with finding your way. :)

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    1. Nope, nothing wrong with that at all in my opinion. Finding the right way takes time and thought, and experience too. If I didn't write, I'd never know I wanted to be a writer.

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  4. Replies
    1. Thankfully before I wasted too much time studying something I didn't really want to.

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