Don't Let Money Decide

When it came to picking a major, money was definitely on my mind. I wanted to be sure to major in something that would help me to have a financially stable job. I wanted to be well fit and able to buy anything I wanted and not struggle with making ends meet. I started getting interested in dermatology, so naturally I sprouted the idea in my head that I wanted to become a dermatologist. I even went to BAM and bought a book that had all of the medical terminology and lots of pictures of the different skin conditions so that I would be able to identify them. There were some pretty gross pictures in that book, and when I brought it to school last year everyone wanted to look in it. I even got other people interested in dermatology. But the best part of dermatology was not what it was all about, but the money. The salary range for a dermatologist is $100,000-400,000. This sounded like music to my ears. But after doing more research into how much schooling I would really need, and taking a peek in an MCAT book (which is what I would need to take in order to get into Med School), I started realizing the money wasn't really worth it. Not only would I have to go through 8 years of school, I would also have to go through at least 3 years of residency, which was definitely NOT music to my ears. I started back to square one, where I was once again lost in what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I had started leaning towards Biology, and possibly even Zoology. My parents helped me to make my decision. They pointed out that ever since they can remember the one thing about me that has never changed has been my love for animals. At first I thought a Biologst or a Zoologist would have a hurting salary, but I was wrong. The salary can range anywhere from 40,000-70,000, which is plenty to have a good, stable lifestyle. Even though my new major comes with a pretty good salary, I still realize that money is not everything. I would not have been happy working in a stuffy office all day examining the nasty skin of people. I would be much happier having a job where I get to work outside and have fresh air and interact with people and wild exotic animals. (I plan on working at either a zoo or a wildlife research center.) But in the end, I would rather have a job that I absolutely love and make a good/decent amount of money, than have a job that I hate while making big money. Just seems like common sense.