Hello everyone. Im new to the forum and as I browse through all of the great info in different forum areas, I wanted to get some feedback on some thoughts I have regarding a mid-life career change for myself.
im 37 years old, have been an auto-technician my whole life and can honestly say that I have lost, or more truthfully, never really had any interest in it at all. I have decided to go to my local community college to start taking courses toward a degree.
I have always had a passionate interest in science. When I was in high school my main interests were in archaeology and anthropolgy. However, I never pursued it for various reasons. I remember the guidance counselor at the time tried to steer me away from it, telling me how people in those fields didnt make much money and I would most likely end up as a teacher for a university after I spent years getting a PHD. No one in my family had ever gone to college, and no one ever expected me to go.
If I think about what my life will continue to be like in the coming years if I dont try to make a change, it gets me deeply depressed. I HAVE to make a change. So I want to get some sort of basic college education and move on to something different. My dream would be to become a paleoanthropologist. However, I am a realist, and know from some research that this may not be a very practical choice for me now. There are other areas of science that interest me, and I have, and still am, looking into some of them. I did come across something recently that sparked my interest. Science journalism.
Could this be a career I can actually pursue? Are there job opportunities out there? Is it on the upswing or downswing?
The thought of writing about topics that interest me, and sharing my passion for them sounds appealing. At this point in my life, I am more interested in a career that I love to do, instead of a career I do to earn a paycheck. Of course I still need to make a living, but I am willing to start over even if it means, which I'm sure it will, that I have to earn much less. I can only imagine what it must be like for someone to have a career they honestly enjoy. I have never felt that, and would like to someday. A person who truly loves there job will never work a day in there life.
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.