u/Cheesy_Wheezy01

I feel like everything has happened so quickly. About 5 months ago I was really unhappy with where I was at in life. I graduated with my BA in history in 2023, my original plan was to be a history teacher but I came to the realization teaching wasn’t for me.

After college I moved to a new state with a couple of friends and worked some really low paying jobs. Eventually I found a job I really enjoyed, working as a nature/historic tour guide. I love what I did, I loved the people I worked with, and I especially liked the tips. But over the past 2 years tourism has been declining and tips have dried out. I left the job I loved due to management being made up entirely of nepo babies, no room for me to move up in the company.

I switched to a new company and although the pay is better, tips are much less and I am even more unhappy. Sooo I decided to apply for grad school.

I’ve always wanted to make a difference in life, do something that felt meaningful, and after seeing the way my former company managed the historic site I worked at it made me want to continue to work towards preserving the beauty and deep and complex history of these locations.

So I started looking at Public administration programs. I applied for grad school in June, got accepted in July, and I start class next week. An MPA would help me work towards my ultimate goal.. nonprofit fundraising at a historical/conservational site. In January they’ll even offer an MPA with an emphasis in nonprofits.

Now here’s where I need advice, I haven’t been in college for the past 3 years. I’m a full time employee and I’ll be a full time student. I’m worried I will fall behind or struggle managing a solid work life balance. I want to still be able to make time for my friends and my boyfriend.

In terms of a career, I don’t have much experience besides working as a tour guide for the past 2 and a half years. Meanwhile most people in this MPA program has held office jobs, working in local government, experience interning in positions that helped prepare them for the MPA program. I feel novice compared to a lot of other people. How can I better prepare for what’s to come? I’m very excited but also extremely nervous for this next chapter in my life. I’d really appreciate any advice yall have, especially if you’ve been in a similar position. How did you get through it? How did you manage your time? What was the hardest part?

I feel like everything has happened so quickly. About 5 months ago I was really unhappy with where I was at in life. I graduated with my BA in history in 2023, my original plan was to be a history teacher but I came to the realization teaching wasn’t for me.

After college I moved to a new state with a couple of friends and worked some really low paying jobs. Eventually I found a job I really enjoyed, working as a nature/historic tour guide. I love what I did, I loved the people I worked with, and I especially liked the tips. But over the past 2 years tourism has been declining and tips have dried out. I left the job I loved due to management being made up entirely of nepo babies, no room for me to move up in the company.

I switched to a new company and although the pay is better, tips are much less and I am even more unhappy. Sooo I decided to apply for grad school.

I’ve always wanted to make a difference in life, do something that felt meaningful, and after seeing the way my former company managed the historic site I worked at it made me want to continue to work towards preserving the beauty and deep and complex history of these locations.

So I started looking at Public administration programs. I applied for grad school in June, got accepted in July, and I start class next week. An MPA would help me work towards my ultimate goal.. nonprofit fundraising at a historical/conservational site. In January they’ll even offer an MPA with an emphasis in nonprofits.

Now here’s where I need advice, I haven’t been in college for the past 3 years. I’m a full time employee and I’ll be a full time student. I’m worried I will fall behind or struggle managing a solid work life balance. I want to still be able to make time for my friends and my boyfriend.

In terms of a career, I don’t have much experience besides working as a tour guide for the past 2 and a half years. Meanwhile most people in this MPA program has held office jobs, working in local government, experience interning in positions that helped prepare them for the MPA program. I feel novice compared to a lot of other people. How can I better prepare for what’s to come? I’m very excited but also extremely nervous for this next chapter in my life. I’d really appreciate any advice yall have, especially if you’ve been in a similar position. How did you get through it? How did you manage your time? What was the hardest part?

I feel like everything has happened so quickly. About 5 months ago I was really unhappy with where I was at in life. I graduated with my BA in history in 2023, my original plan was to be a history teacher but I came to the realization teaching wasn’t for me.

After college I moved to a new state with a couple of friends and worked some really low paying jobs. Eventually I found a job I really enjoyed, working as a nature/historic tour guide. I love what I did, I loved the people I worked with, and I especially liked the tips. But over the past 2 years tourism has been declining and tips have dried out. I left the job I loved due to management being made up entirely of nepo babies, no room for me to move up in the company.

I switched to a new company and although the pay is better, tips are much less and I am even more unhappy. Sooo I decided to apply for grad school.

I’ve always wanted to make a difference in life, do something that felt meaningful, and after seeing the way my former company managed the historic site I worked at it made me want to continue to work towards preserving the beauty and deep and complex history of these locations.

So I started looking at Public administration programs. I applied for grad school in June, got accepted in July, and I start class next week. An MPA would help me work towards my ultimate goal.. nonprofit fundraising at a historical/conservational site. In January they’ll even offer an MPA with an emphasis in nonprofits.

Now here’s where I need advice, I haven’t been in college for the past 3 years. I’m a full time employee and I’ll be a full time student. I’m worried I will fall behind or struggle managing a solid work life balance. I want to still be able to make time for my friends and my boyfriend.

In terms of a career, I don’t have much experience besides working as a tour guide for the past 2 and a half years. Meanwhile most people in this MPA program has held office jobs, working in local government, experience interning in positions that helped prepare them for the MPA program. I feel novice compared to a lot of other people. How can I better prepare for what’s to come? I’m very excited but also extremely nervous for this next chapter in my life. I’d really appreciate any advice yall have, especially if you’ve been in a similar position. How did you get through it? How did you manage your time? What was the hardest part?

Hi, so I’m a little confused as to what happened. I (25) graduated undergrad in May 2023 so it’s been a little while since I’ve been in school.

In June I decided to pull the trigger and apply to grad school for a masters in public administration. It was really a last minute decision for me but it felt right. By the first week of July I got accepted and I immediately put in an application for student aid. It took about 2ish weeks for everything to get processed and approved and on my college portal it said I was offered aid. I never accepted it as the last 2 weeks have been hectic. I’ve had 2 funerals, traveling out of state, and issues with work.. well I went on my portal to accept my aid package yesterday and it said it was “declined”. I don’t know how or why.. I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford grad school out of pocket, I already have a full time job which barely pays my bills. If anyone has advice or some clarity as to what happened, I’d really appreciate it.

I recently got accepted into grad school under the MPA program and I’m really excited to get started but I’m also very nervous. I’ve never been the person that’s always known what I wanted to do with life, but I have always known I wanted to make a difference and work a job that would allow for a good work life balance.

I graduated with my BA in history back in 2023 and soon after began working as a historic tour guide. Ive never worked for a government agency before so I guess I’m just curious what I should expect in my MPA program but also what can I expect once I graduate? What positions did y’all pursue? What is your favorite part about your job? What is your work life balance like?

Hi y’all, sorry this is a long one!

Ever since I was little I’ve never really known what I wanted to do with my life. My career goals constantly changed as I got older. Eventually my junior year of HS comes along and I continue down the track that if I go to college then I’m sure to find a job after graduating. With the encouragement of my parents, I went to school to be an ELED teacher. But COVID hit during college and I started to second guess what was best for me. I always enjoyed history so I decided to switch to double major in history and secondary education. Then I hit a rough patch in my life and I lacked support, so I ended up just graduating with a degree in history.

Since I’ve been out of school, I’ve worked as a historic tour guide. I loved my job when I first started. I was outside everyday (even in the freezing cold and boiling heat I still loved it), my public speaking skills grew tremendously, I had amazing conversations with people, and I felt like I was making a difference educating people. But the company I worked for refused allow me to move up and gave my intended promotion to a hairstylist because he knew the owners.

I switched to a new tour company but ever since I’ve made the switch I’ve been itching for something more. I want to feel like what I’m doing has purpose.. make a difference in someone’s life, I want a consistent schedule, and benefits. I feel like I never gave teaching a full chance because of COVID and my lack of support, but I’ve been told by so many people it’s not worth it. I’ve considered public administration as I feel like I’d be able to help make a difference in my community.. but Im not fully sure what it would entail.

I applied for grad school at my local college and I got into both programs. Issue is, the education program I applied for wouldn’t get me a teaching license and with the PA program, my parents told me they wouldn’t support me because they don’t think that’s what’s best for me.

My other option is to wait until spring, move a two hours away from the town I love to attend grad school for a year to get my masters in teaching secondary education with an emphasis in history.

I just dont know how to choose what’s right for me. If anyone in these different career pathways have any advice, I’d really appreciate it.

Hi all!

Just a little bit of background on me; I graduated in 2023 with my BA in history. My goal when I started college was to be a history teacher, but I started student teaching right when COVID hit and due to other factors in my life I decided against teaching.

After I graduated I became a historic and nature tour guide and I love it! I loved it when I first started, but recently I’ve been struggling.. the monotony, lack of stability, and the loss of purpose has been eating away at me. I’ve never been the person who’s known what they wanted to do with their life, but I’ve always known I wanted to make a difference.

I’ve been debating on going back to school to further my education and to find the right career path for me. I still have a very strong passion for history and nature and the idea of working in cultural/environmental management is very intriguing. I have a strong background in research, public speaking, analyzing documents, and plenty of other skills that might bleed over into that field based off my BA and work experience. I’d love to hear your thoughts or about your experiences in public administration.

So I’ve always been someone who’s never known what I wanted to do with my life, as a kid I’d bounce around between being a veterinarian, teacher, zoologist, therapist, etc... But I’ve never had this intense pull towards one thing or another.

Ultimately by the time college came around I decided I’d go in to be a teacher as that is what my parents thought was best. I was fortunate enough to be put through college, but I was unsure of what I wanted so I changed between being an elementary school teacher to high school history.. I also started my teaching classes right when COVID hit and the desire to teach faded away. It also didn’t help that I had a horrible ex who swayed my decisions in his favor. I ended up graduating with a degree in history and I figured maybe once I leave college I’ll find what fits me.

I pose my question like this because of Sylvia Plath poem “the fig tree” I have so many wants and desires but I’m unsure of which fig to choose. A lot of my figs require me going back to school or moving states. I’d want to be a museum curator, teacher, archeologist, wildlife conservationist, culinary artist, therapist, park ranger, and so much more. My boyfriend has known what he’s wanted since he was in high school, he’s extremely smart and works in cyber security.. he travels every month and makes great money. All the while I work as an historic tour guide giving the same tour over and over again, without benefits, with somewhat decent pay, but shitty management. I wish I had a career that made me happy. I wish I knew which fig was best for me

I pose my question like this because I often think of Sylvia Plath poem The Fig Tree. I have so many things I want to do and I don’t know what’s best for me. I went to school to be a history teacher but my freshmen year covid hit and it completely destroyed the experience for me. So I just graduated with my degree in history with no idea what was in store for me.

I moved to a new state and got a job as a historic tour guide. I loved it, but I hated the company I worked for.. recently I switched companies and I find that I’m already dreading going into work. I am incredibly bored and I feel like what I’m doing is no longer fulfilling.

I have so many figs in my tree but I’m not sure what is best for me. Especially when the job market is horrendous. I’m happy I have a job that pays a livable wage (no benefits though) but I’m not happy with the job itself.

Just some things I’ve thought about; wildlife conservation, criminology, work as a cook/baker in my friends cafe (she’s slowly turning it into a business, as of rn it’s just a coffee cart), teaching, archeologist, public history historian. But of course a lot of these things involve me going back to school and truthfully idk if I can afford that.

I stare at my fig tree trying to decide which one is best for me, but as time goes by I feel like I can see my figs slowly starting to turn.