When I was growing up, I was very indecisive. I used to say I was going to be a doctor. Then I changed my mind and decided I wanted to be a singer. During this time it ranged from careers such as teaching to being a Victoria Secret model (which I still laugh about today) and even being a racecar driver, which is funny because I still have no idea how to drive. I looked at pursuing a lot of career before I finally decided. Or so I thought.
During my sophomore year of high school, we had the opportunity to enter a two-year technical program. The programs included Culinary, Cosmetology, PR and Event Management, Early Childhood Development, Marketing, etc. At the time, I was leaning towards health technologies to pursue becoming a nurse. I had pretty much grown up on Grey's Anatomy, so becoming a nurse was something I thought I would enjoy. When we went on a tour of our technical school, the Career Academy, we were allowed to select three things we wanted to look into a bit further. I chose Health Technologies, Cosmetology and Dental Assisting.
At the time, Dental Assisting was something I just randomly selected because a few of my friends were looking into it as well. On the day of our tour, that was our first stop. I was not that excited, but as the tour went on I did not want to leave. When we were informed it was time to go to our next stop, I remember looking to my two friends and saying that nothing could beat this. I did enjoy the other two programs, but not nearly as much. When it came to applications, I selected Dental Assisting as my first choice and Health Technologies as my second. I did not share with my family my change of thoughts purely because I had changed my mind so many times before. When I got accepted, I told my friends and family. Needless to say, they were not expecting it because I had talked so highly of becoming a nurse. As time went by, they saw my excitement and we knew I had chosen the right program.
When the summer was coming to an end, I was shopping for scrubs while many were school shopping for new outfits. Part of this program meant you had to look the part of a Dental Assistant from head-to-toe. The white leather shoes were definitely my least favorite part and I think I went through several pairs throughout the program.
We had normal high school classes in addition to our program. During junior year, we would spend the morning in the lab and the afternoon in our regular classes like English and History. Senior year this was reversed; we had our regular classes in the morning and the lab in the afternoon. The two-year program consists of a lot of impressions (people who have had braces definitely know what these are) and notecards as we prepared for certification to become Ohio Certified Dental Assistants.
A turning point for me was spending several weeks at The Ohio State University of Dentistry assisting the dental students during my junior year. Working in the ER of the dental hospital was exciting as I had procedures ranging from extractions to fillings to root canals. I was also lucky enough to go through these two years with one of my best friends and I even made many more friends during this time. While I loved Dental Assisting and the two years I spent at the Career Academy, part of me felt like something was missing. Performing procedures brought excitement and I did not want to leave the lab, but as time went on I began wondering if this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
When I was applying for college, I made my major undecided. Many asked why I did not just select Dental Hygiene as many of my peers were selecting. My family and friends seemed to think I would change my mind and stay with Dental Assisting but I did not. I was accepted into a few colleges and many wanted me to make a decision about my major before I was accepted for scholarship reasons. I knew I had to decide quickly as my career and education depended on it.
Writing was something that I have always loved. I think I have had so many diaries and journals over the years that it would literally weigh a ton. My pieces of work ranged from stories to songs to poems.
I also loved sports. I grew up in a family full of girls and when my step-father introduced me to football, baseball, etc. I loved it. I remember I got kicked off my mini-cheer squad because instead of cheering, I was watching the game. As I got older, my love of sports grew and I also became interested in social media. I had a Twitter of my writing random thoughts that has over 60,000 followers and close to 100,000 on my Tumblr account.
When I sat down and wrote down things I thought about doing, writing, sports and social media were all on the list, so I combined them. I sat my family down and told them I had changed my career path once again, and at the time they thought I was joking. They wanted me to go with a more practical career rather than one where I would have to beat out tons of people for the position I wanted. I had spent my whole life watching my mom regret her decision of not attending college and pursuing a different career and I did not want that for myself.
Although I knew I would not continue my education in this field, I also stuck it out with Dental Assisting. I passed my certification and became an Ohio Certified Dental Assistant with a license in dental radiology in the state of Ohio. This became my backup plan because I loved this career. Though I did have a goal for myself, I also liked having a safety net to fall back on.
I am currently majoring in sports studies with a minor in journalism as I would love to work for a sports team or sports network someday. When I tell people that I am a sports studies major, many look at me in shock and expect me not to know a thing about sports. Women in the sports industry are rare but you do have a few breakouts like Kathryn Smith, the first full-time NFL coach, and Erin Andrews, a sportscaster known throughout the world. While my career of interest is difficult to achieve, being a woman while doing so is even harder.
Many tell you that you have to decide you career and stick to it but that is far from the truth. You always have a decision to change and that is why you're offered so many opportunities in life to do so. You may think your life is planned out for you, but you still will always have the option to change it even when you do not believe so. My older cousin was inspired by my decision and decided to go back to school for a career in business. Even my mother has started taking classes to get an additional degree to add to her resume.
Change is something to appreciate. Even though I doubt I will at this point, if I do decide to change my career again, that's okay.
