RCIA, Career Advice, & Other Topics

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snowman10

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I figure I will just start rambling away at things on my mind.

First, I ran into the Priest that was in charge of my RCIA class last year and is the Priest at the church where I go to college. He asked if I would be finishing RCIA this time through and I said I did not know because of my family being unhappy about it. He said I could wait and to keep my head up, it would happen.

Second, I don’t know if I want to become a Physician Assistant or a Physician. I am smart enough to do both, but I can be mildly lazy and unmotivated at times. I think I would be fine as a doc but I am just not sure. It is a huge commitment and being a doc today is not like it used to be, they are less respected, are making less money, and are dealing with tons of beauracratic bull doodie. PA’s can do most everything and deal with little if no politics.

Lastly, I am really depressed lately for a few reasons I think. One, I am not sure about my current relationship w/ my girlfriend of 3 years. We bicker alot and just don’t see eye to eye on alot. Plus, I am frustrated because I want to be closer to God but I just keep drifting away.

Thats All Folks, Sorry for the long post

dxu
 
Your life sounds normal to me…we all have stuff like that to deal with.
 
Catholic_Dude said:
Your life sounds normal to me…we all have stuff like that to deal with.
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Wow, exactly the response I was expecting…:rolleyes:

I can understand they are normal and average because I swear to you that I am the poster-child form average.

I am looking for advice and ways to cope/choose/etc.

dxu
 
If you are not passionate about becoming a physician, then my advice is don’t waste the time and money. I’m an attorney. I saw a number of intelliigent people who were not certain what they wanted to do with their lives in law school by default. It was not a good move. Some dropped out. Some spent all of that money and time and then didn’t want to practice. Some had to practice and are still miserable. Professional school is a huge time/money commitment so please be sure before you go.

Don’t be in a hurry to pick a lifelong career. I had worked for the university police as a student, so my mother suggested that I consider becoming a police officer for awhile to gain life experience before going to law school. I took 6 years after undergrad and worked, saved money, dated, played sports and generally had a life for a time. Once law or med school starts, forget about it! I didn’t even know the Soviet Union had collapsed for 3 days because I was so busy studying and going to law classes!

I’ve been an attorney for a little more than a decade now and I don’t regret taking the time to live and learn about life before law school. It made me more certain that I was making the correct decision about my career and it gave me valuable perspective about who I was and how the world worked before I got to law school. The whole Socratic nightmare was not quite as brutal for me as an “older” student. I don’t know how well I would have fared at 21, fresh out of undergrad.

Regarding the girlfriend, what is up with 3 years of dating? I don’t know your age, but it seems kind of cruel to tie someone down for that long if your intent is not marriage. You sound like you have many years of school ahead before you can really settle down with anyone. I would like to suggest a couple of books to you on what Catholics/Christians should consider about dating/courtship/marriage.

The Exclamation: The Wise Choice of a Spouse for Catholic Marriage by Patricia Wrona works for any Christian. She starts with telling you about discernment of God’s will in general which would also help you in your career decision. She moves on to tell you about discerning if a person is “the one” and then how to do mutual discernment with them if it gets to that point.

Another excellent book is Christian Courtship in an Oversexed World by Thomas G. Morrow (a priest). He lays it out in plain language about why secular one-on-one “dating” is probably not such a great idea for Christians who are not ready to marry. He talks about how we can get ourselves together so that when we meet the right person we will be ready for “courtship.” He even talks about the kinds of things that are appropriate within marital relations and courtship physically. (The answers may surprise some people, but they are orthodox.)

I hope that you do find God’s will for your life in all areas!
 
jc-servant said:
If you are not passionate about becoming a physician, then my advice is don’t waste the time and money. I’m an attorney. I saw a number of intelliigent people who were not certain what they wanted to do with their lives in law school by default. It was not a good move. Some dropped out. Some spent all of that money and time and then didn’t want to practice. Some had to practice and are still miserable. Professional school is a huge time/money commitment so please be sure before you go.
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:clapping:

This is absolutely great advice!

Take it from someone who is 28, graduated from undergrad 5 years ago, and is just now starting her first year of grad school (PhD, immunology): you don’t have to know exactly what you want to do when you’re 21 or 22. A lot of people don’t and either have the experience recounted above by jc_servant, or are miserable in their chosen careers. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a researcher when I left undergrad. I worked as a research assistant for 5 years and observed grad school/academia from the sidelines. Once I was convinced that 1) I really did love my work and didn’t want to do anything else, 2) the joy of research outweighed the unpleasantness of grant proposals and department politics, and 3) it was worth the necessary sacrifices, only then did I send in my applications. My experience has given me a heads-up over many of the students who are coming in straight out of undergrad, and I have the added benefit of knowing what to expect.

Don’t rush into it. My friend just started PA school this fall after being out for three years. She’s gotten a lot of good work experience and is absolutely sure about her chosen career path. You might want to do the same. Good luck.
 
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