I, like almost every toddler, had enormous ambitions growing up. My career of choice changed almost every day, from an author and illustrator to an actress on Broadway or a fairy princess. Sometimes I even considered being a fashion model, although my brief stint attempting to walk in my mother’s high heels soon proved that ambition to be entirely impractical.
Unfortunately, the older I got, I realized that the vast majority of my childhood dreams were impractical, or at the very least, extremely difficult to achieve. I could barely draw a discernible stick figure; I did not have nearly enough personality (or enough of a cutthroat competitive streak) to make it on Broadway; and, to my great disappointment, I simply could not make myself into a fairy or a princess.
As harsh as it is to discover as a child that your dreams won’t come true, it is even harder when you are a young adult, and, unfortunately, it happens every day. The student who goes to college to be a doctor fails organic chemistry, the English literature Ph.D. spends years searching for a teaching job, or the young associate does not get promoted to partner at his law firm. Our economy is such that jobs are becoming more and more competitive and require more and more education, which makes it difficult for many hopeful young people to be gainfully employed, let alone to achieve their dreams.
Although I have not yet entered the work force in my field, I nonetheless still face the looming threat that I will come out of college and graduate school with no job prospects. Teaching jobs in higher education are slim to say the least, especially in the humanities and social sciences, since those fields are often the ones targeted by budget cuts and thus must eliminate more teaching positions than some other areas, like engineering or business. And academia is certainly not the only career that is becoming more difficult to break into — almost every field is suffering under the current economic situation, and job prospects in most sectors today are dim.
In light of the issues with employment and the economy, it is becoming increasingly difficult for students to dream big, at least on a practical level. No one likes to put their energy, money and hope into a plan that has a statically high chance of not being realized. It seems disheartening to throw yourself into a major that you love but you know would be difficult to pursue as a career; or, conversely, to choose a more lucrative job that has more opportunities but that you do not enjoy. Every year, there are several students who switched from history or literature into engineering or microbiology hoping that those career paths would yield greater job prospects, and it is extremely unfortunate that the actualities of the economy and the job market today force many students into career paths that they did not originally wish to pursue.
If you’re anything like me, and I suspect many of you are, you not only have no desire to pick another major, you would probably not be very good at anything else you tried. Any attempts on my part to be an engineer or a doctor would end in utter and laughable failure. Consequently, we are left with a choice — to doggedly pursue one particular career path in the hopes that it will pay off, or to compromise. This does not necessarily mean to settle on a less exciting job or to downplay your dreams in favor of another opportunity. It means keeping your mind open for other opportunities to present themselves. If you’re bound and determined to be a writer for The New Yorker, try your hand at freelancing some articles before making that leap. If you dream of being a lawyer at a powerful law firm, consider a clerkship with a judge or becoming an associate at a smaller firm. Those jobs may not be exactly what you’ve dreamed of, but they are far more practical in today’s market. And who knows? You may end up enjoying yourself so much that you stay with it permanently.
Knowing yourself and your goals well enough to consider other options as careers is a valuable attribute in today’s job market. Success will ultimately depend on your ability to be flexible and to explore. That, more than anything else, is the key to happiness in any career you choose.
— Sarah Russell is a junior in history. She can be reached at srusse22@utk.edu.
