Soledad&#39;s Journal

And here is another topic for you: are you currently working in the job you always wanted? If not, what did you originally want to do? Do you intend to try pursuing it still or have you settled for your current life?

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Currently self employed web developer/unpaid carer. Neither of which I ever imagined being, but I never really came across a dream job. Maybe a some point in the future my health will be good enough to think about it and try to find something.

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When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be a farmer, and take over my parents dairy farm. I think I got over that 'dream' before hitting my teens though, and now I definitely would not want that job! It is a lot of very hard work, for very little pay, and often even less appreciation. It was a good life as a kid though, always having my parents at home even when they were at work...

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I should perhaps have added: My current job is university lecturer in physics; it isn't what I planned to do even when I started university, partly because my first two years at university I did history and German. After changing to an engineering degree, I still wasn't planning on staying in academia; indeed one of my main reasons for going down the engineering route (apart from really enjoying it) was the prospect of a 'real' job at the end of it. On the other hand, I did always say I wanted to work in the research and development department of whatever industry hired me, and being a physics lecturer is partly a research post, so in some way I suppose I have ended up where I planned to. I am very happy where I am, both with the job itself and with my colleagues. For example, this afternoon I was working on setting an assignment for the module I gave the lecture in this morning. The director of my research centre, one of the senior professors, will teach on this module after my three weeks are up, and I asked him to look over my ideas for the assignment. He not only took time to read it through and give a few quick comments, he actually went and got his laptop and showed me the assignments he set for his part of the module last year and then talked about the pros and cons of different types of questions for quite some time. For someone new to the lecturing gig, like me, that sort of thing is fantastically helpful!

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Sounds like a great job for you! :)

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I feel very lucky!

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My dream is still to write & publish a mainstream novel. Unfortunately I'm no further along than I was nearly a decade ago; it's been a bad decade for creativity!

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I hear you! I always wanted to be a professional sci-fi and fantasy writer, perhaps historic novels, too. But I had to realise early on that in our system I won't have a rat's chance, and so I became a teacher. Which I would like very much, if they would let me do my job and not make my life hell with idiot restrictions and nepotism.

Oh, and I wanted to be a nun, too, for almost 20 years! I even spent nearly 3 years in a convent in Germany, before finally giving up on the idea.

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I don't think it's easy in the UK to make a living out of being a novelist/poet.

I don't have any urge in modern society to become a nun, though I can see the attraction in medieval England.

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I loved the way of life we led in the convent. It was just the German mindset that was incompatible with mine.

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There are some lovely Germans, but I've met a few who lived up to all the stereotypes.

At heart I'm an anarchist, which doesn't help!

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sammydragoncat

My Tio (uncle) almost became a priest - that is until he met my Tia (Aunt). Joining a religious order is an amazing commitment, and not everyone has the calling. I couldn't imaging ever doing it, but I do admire those who do.

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lhun-dweller.livejournal.com

When I was quite a little girl, I decided I wanted to work on Jacques Cousteau's ship, Calypso. I also imagined myself as the navigator of both ocean-going and space-faring vessels for years. But somewhere amongst our moving internationally, my maths fell apart, and a neither oceanographer nor ship's pilot (sea- or space-faring) was a viable choice by the time I was choosing a college major, so it was political science.

Since early in this century, I've been a qualitative researcher in public health at a university, but another shift is due. I'm trying to get into work around local/regional resilience and readiness in response to the impacts of climate change. I live in a harbor city, and the storm surge map projections show me living on waterfront property, at least temporarily, within the next 10 years. Sobering... I have research background in climate change work (back when people still said "possible" or "hypothetical" in front of "climate change"), and I can get almost anybody to talk to me, and I feel like this is the area where I can be useful. I have a few contacts, and now my health is settling down, it's time to get off my butt and start actively networking, etc.

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Feel free not to answer, but I'm curious how you got from political science to public health research?

Working in the field of climate change impact sounds both interesting and essential.

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Good luck!

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I admire you for daring to start something completely new.

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rcfinch.livejournal.com

In fact, I am - I was good at translating while still at school, and everyone told me to pick it for a job. It seemed a good idea, so I did. What I didn't know is that translating doesn't pay very well... So I'm doing work I'm good at and which I like, sometimes even a lot, but at a price, so to speak.

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*nods* It is good that you are enjoying it.

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When I was trying to decide what to do for my A'levels my French teacher took me aside & told me not to do languages because nearly everyone ended up in translation, & there was no pay to be had. From other translators I know, it does sound an interesting, relatively low stress job that can be done from home.

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rcfinch.livejournal.com

Yes, it's relatively low stress, even with deadlines, if you are able to work according to schedule. That the schedule is your own, is an added benefit.

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I'm quite bad at working out how long it will take me to do something -- when I freelanced, I had to get my project manager husband to help in estimating.

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rcfinch.livejournal.com - Date: 2014-10-08 09:59 pm (UTC) - Expand

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rcfinch.livejournal.com - Date: 2014-10-08 10:04 pm (UTC) - Expand

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It is very nice to enjoy your work, isn't it? It sounds a very interesting job. It is a pity it isn't better paid, but I hope you at least make enough to live comfortably!

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rcfinch.livejournal.com

Don't worry, I do, especially now that one of my daughters can look after herself.

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