This semester has been a lot about figuring about what I’m passionate about and what field I want to pursue a career in. After feeling like maybe the environmental sector isn’t where my passions lay anymore, I began to look into all the majors offered at OSU. I was doing a little digging and I stumbled across Public Health. I really liked what the program had to offer, and the coursework seemed like something that I would really enjoy, as well as the ultimate destination of a job in this field. I also found the RIASEC test while I was exploring the career services website, and took that. I found out that I am RIS. Knowing this information I began to look into career fields that would satisfy my strengths and interests and what I want out of a job.
I found out that many jobs that a public health degree would allow me to pursue were listed for me. Many of the jobs also required medical school, which I haven’t had the most time to even consider, but I feel like a career where I can help people directly in some aspect related to their health and overall wellbeing is what I would like to do. This is quite the shift from wanting to work for the EPA on water quality, which I wanted to do for so long.
Some of the jobs that O*Net recommended for me included Preventative Medical Physician, Immunologists, and Dietitian or Nutritionist. I am happily considering anyone of those, as I think those jobs are very interesting and something that I can see myself loving to do.
As far as my academic plans, this kind of throws a wrench in things. For my classes next semester, I have decided to take a couple pre-requisite courses to be able to apply to the College of Public Health in Autumn of ’18. I am also taking an intro to public health class to kind of get a glimpse into what studies would look like in that aspect.
My next steps are to get immersed into these new classes next semester, continue meeting with my current academic advisor, as well as set up an appointment with an advisor in the College of Public Health to guide me through this transition. The RISEC test was very helpful because I learned that all of the things that I love to do can be compiled into a job for me someday. I love talking to people, I love learning new things, and I want something hands on that is very tangible to work with. I learned that it’s okay to not know exactly what I want to do right now, and luckily I have some time to branch out and experience some different types of classes.
I think that my biggest takeaway from the workshop was how Esther said that you can still have a passion but not necessarily want to pursue a career in that. I can still love and care for the environment but not have a job that directly involved trying to advocate for the environment. I’m excited to see where my college journey takes me!