Work work work

After Ryan's epic posts on careers and stuff, I feel obligated to explain myself and my choices. Hey, after all, my choice of studying medicine seems to fit me as well as an elephant's shirt would.

Let's zoom back to my childhood ambitions. As a kid I've always had 2 sets of ambitions. One was to do what would make me great and successful and make everyone else proud of me. Another was just to have fun and satisfy my interests. The former would mean being a person like a lawyer or a surgeon or a banker.

On the other hand, what I really wanted to do was to be a bus or train driver, manning the controls skilfully, waving back to the kids who wave hello. (As a kid I did wave to the train driver and yes, they do wave back.)

But then maturity teaches one the omnipotence of plentiful cash, and that dream was quickly quashed.

But hey, I didn't fare too badly in satisfying my childhood dream. I worked as a data entry clerk for a week at ComfortDelgro which is the parent company of SBS Transit, and my workplace was interestingly in the middle of a bus depot. Not to mention, I was driving a Mercedes jeep in the army, which has a cockpit really similar to the buses that ply our roads. Yay.

Back to topic. I didn't really think about what I wanted to be in the later years of primary school, as adult working life was just so far away and was way beyond my imagination.

And it was in secondary school when I realised that, oh, I'd have to get a job someday.

Possible career choices:
- rock star
- novelist
- journalist
- engineer
- psychotherapist
- owner-of-a-cafe-in-a-quiet-place
- doctor

-rock star
Lovely lifestyle. Money. Lots of it. And the right to throw tantrums. But man, what are the chances?


- novelist
Well, I'm a mean writer of fiction. Or at least, I'd like to think so. However, as we all know, this is Singapore, where writers aren't likely to succeed. And hey, even if there's the correct climate, what are the chances that I'd make the big break? Naaaaah.


- journalist
In the same vein, I'm not too bad at writing. But hey, interviewing people, writing under incredibly tight deadlines and having to be nasty and brash often - just for a basic wage - doesn't appeal to me that much.


- engineer
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief. Would I be successful as the proverbial tinker? There's this part of me who's crazy about needing to find out how things work and all, and has no qualms diving into the deep end of the pool and fixing stuff by myself. Not to mention, I have all sorts of fantasies about inventing stuff, as evidenced by my post on inventions I'd like to see. Oh did I mention? I can do basic electronic repairs! Saved a couple of CD players and stuff, and cobbled up a DIY USB charger and stuff before!

And hey, I'm good with computers. As in, programming them and making them do the things I want them to do. In fact I'd programmed a Windows utility rated 5 stars on ZDnet's hotfiles.com back when I was 14!

So why not engineering? Simple. I did an engineering research project in NTU back in my Junior College days, and found that it was more about directed number-crunching and technicalities rather than wooly castles-in-the-sky kinda thinking new things up. Too much Mathematics, too little thrill. Naaaaaah.


-owner-of-a-cafe-in-a-quiet-place
A small town cafe that sells great toast and coffee! I'd love to have such a job, pulling the shots of espresso, mixing up cool caffeinated concoctions, toasting the toast, having a slow and easy life just watching the world go by.

But where do you find a small town here, and who's going to pay for my initial start-up capital?


-psychotherapist
The art of fooling with the human mind. And the science of seeing why people think the way they think and how to change thoughts that are harmful. It's a purposeful and interesting field. Not too science-y and yet not delving into wooly arts either.

And why not? Cause it's damned expensive to study to a level where I'd be a qualified psychotherapist. They don't offer the full qualifications locally.


-doctor
Can I confess? The reasons why I chose medicine in the end are horribly boring and not in any bit honourable.

1. It's a purposeful job. Doctors actually make lives better, and maybe save them along the way! Unlike lawyers (criminal lawyers fight for the wrong guy 50% of the time), investment bankers (for every dollar you earn, some sucker elsewhere loses a dollar) or middle management (they're paid to shuffle and juggle documents, much like a magician does.)

2. The pay ain't too bad and employment's sorta secure. Not having to hunt for jobs and all.

3. There's still many paths I can take from there. Aesthetic medicine to public health to psychiatry to X-rays.

4. It's an interesting field, academically.

I'm not that sure if I really like the lifestyle though. It's hard work and there's not much free time left for oneself. But hey, other jobs may be equally crappy for all I know. The grass always looks greener on the other side.

Oh well, I hope the grass really isn't greener on the other side!

(part 2 coming up, about what I'd actually do with that medical degree)