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Future plans

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I no longer want to go to graduate school or medical school, and while a large component of those decisions are rooted in my own personal feelings on the matter given the experiences that I’ve had. However, the graduate shool decision still has a giant “maybe” attached to it.

Med school has been ruled out in my mind largely because I haven’t been able to convince myself that it’s something that I want to do. I know what prerequisites I must fulfill or possess, and yet I have not been enthusiastic about completing them. However, the availability of time has always been an issue. That said, this fact invites at least two questions: first, I time as an still is an issue, and medical shool was an important goal, why did fulfilling the necessary requirements not take priority in my life? Second, clearly my life/work balance is already an issue I have demonstrated vey little skill in managing; what hope would I have in improving that skill should I become a doctor?

Graduate school is, in my mind, a better fit for me than medical school, and yet even there, I’m not sure it’s the right thing for me to do. Perhaps I’ve only had experience in a field of science that doesn’t captivate me the way I would need in order for me to really want to devote my lfe to its study. As far as I can tell, money will always be an issue as long as I am in science, and I think that it will only be with great luck that I could fix that problem within the spam of 10-15 years. In the meantime, it appears that I would be tied to research, unable to travel, build up personal wealth, or own property, though that last point would be possible only with great difficulty. To be honest, I haven’t totally excluded this path in life, but I am actively looking for other options.

If I do choose graduate shool, I am sure it would not be in the field of biology or any other field that would direct me into basic research. I enjoy science and I feel that I am never satisfied by the knowledge that I have and am constantly trying to expand upon it. My interest always has and continues to be te use of computers to solve a wide variety of problems. Every time I learn about some new way of using computers or interacting with them or using them to interact with the world, I get really excited and it instantly become my top priority to go out and find as much information as I can on the innovation and apply or expand upon it.

I suspect that computer science maybe the field I should consider most seriously, but I am concerned about barriers to entry, given that my undergraduate major was not in that field. I have been told that this shouldn’t matter, but it’s one thing for me to know and believe this. It’s another for a recruiter, someone in an HR department, or an admissions office to have the same opinion.

If I can figure out a way to transition from biology and engineering to computer science and engineering as design, even if all I can come up with is at best is a poor excuse for a life plan, I will be extremely excited and motivated to embark upon it.

As a side note I should also add that consulting is also a possibilty as far as future career plans go, but to be entirely honest, I don’t know anything about it. I haven’t been given any explanation as to what it is or what is invoved that leaves me satisfied. As such, I’m not entirely convinced that it’s a good fit for me.

Written by dan

July 26th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

2 Responses to 'Future plans'

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  1. I think you’d be a good consultant. You’re good at figuring out what’s wrong with stuff and finding a good way to fix it. Anyway, happy new blog! Use it more, I miss you!

    nikki

    26 Jul 09 at 10:07 pm

  2. Thanks. I think now the hard part is getting my foot in the door, since all I’ve done formally until now has been lab work.

    dan

    5 Aug 09 at 1:56 pm

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