Perhaps I am writing this piece for my own comfort.
Recently, I have begun working for a company where I have to talk about the LSATs in addition to the MCATs, which I have had my heart set on taking for a few years now. As many of you very well know by now, my career goals are in medicine.
When I started looking at the things I might potentially have to talk about regarding the LSATs when presenting it to groups that might be interesting in taking that exam, it got me considering the possibility of a career outside of medicine.
What if I decided to follow through and take the LSATs in addition to, or instead of the MCATs?
Be patient.
There is still plenty of time before taking either of these exams that I have to consider what I could do to better myself for either of these fields. Perhaps I won’t truly know whether or not I am ready or qualified to partake in such a thing until the very last minute, when I can evaluate the range and quality of all the different classes and activities I have tried to do in college.
Committing to such a decision will lead the path for the rest of my entire life, whatever that path is. Avoiding a hasty decision could save me a lifetime of struggling in something I wasn’t good enough for.
Be pleasant.
Part of the deal in struggling with the pre-health path is the never ending resentment—namely towards myself for not being able to keep up. Anyone could tell you that putting on a happy face is difficult to do on a daily basis. However, being pleasant to others, especially those who might not be struggling as much as you in the same materials, or those who are not involved in the hard sciences makes it a little easier to face failure you might experience along the way.
Be open.
One door might be closing, but another could open while that happens. That is why I want to consider taking the LSATs as a possibility towards a health field related goal. There are many opportunities to be involved in what happens in the medical world that do not necessarily involve practicing medicine. Perhaps taking the GRE’s and pursuing a graduate school degree would be a better fit for me.
With that said, I can’t know what could be the best opportunity and fit for me might be, unless I try to create opportunities for myself and then evaluate the possibilities. Avoiding hasty decisions coming from a place of frustration and uncertainty, and waiting for the best opportunity to present itself could create an ideal future unique to myself.
That ideal future in which I might find work is only one truth. There are many unpredictable and unlikely outcomes that I could find comfort in depending on what kind of work I was looking to commit myself to learning, and the fulfillment I could find from building a career in it. I have most often heard from talking to older people that they had always planned on working in a specific career path when they were younger, but opportunity presented itself at the last second and they somehow ended up in something they had never imagined or considered.
Perhaps remaining patient, pleasant, and open will help me avoid disappointment and regret in the coming two years when these decisions will be made. More importantly, I will learn to love whatever it is I’ll end up doing, and find it significant in achieving what I want for myself and my family, and for others.
