u/silverbunny3283

I’m someone who’s very lost in life right now and looking towards a career to strive towards that I would enjoy, pays me well, has a good work-life balance, and is worth the schooling required. I have a BA in psychology, but have become interested in lab work. I don’t like working with people and think working on my tasks independently would suit me. However, I’m aware I would have to restart my college education most likely to pivot to this field or other healthcare fields like radiology or x-rays. I’ve also been very bad at math and science during my grade school and college years. I was always stronger at history and English.

So I ask, would a MLS degree or something similar be worth it?

I still have no idea what I’m passionate about and what job to pursue. It seems that anything I research though people say it doesn’t pay enough to justify the cost of the level of education. So I ask, what job is actually worth it for the schooling involved? What pays well enough to justify it?

I’ve been in love with Japan since I was little. I’ve been sure that I wanted to move there ever since I lived there for a year while studying abroad. There’s no place I would like to live in the U.S. and have no real attachments here at all. However, I’ve been trying to learn Japanese for over 7 years with an embarrassing amount to show for it. There is no exaggeration when I say that. I cannot even read katakana, just hiragana slower than everyone else. I even forget some hiragana sometimes. I can’t memorize any kanji, maybe one definition for 4 of them total. I cannot remember vocabulary or grammar. I’ve been self taught and taken 3 years of classes in the 7 years I have spent trying to learn the language. My memory has always been weak, which I believe to be the main thing holding me back from learning the language. I have also previously tried to learn two other languages before committing myself to Japanese and performed disastrously with those, as well. Not even being able to make basic sentences or understand anything being said to me. One of which I studied in school for 4 years total.

Is it hopeless to ever find work and move to Japan knowing that I cannot learn the language? I want to be respectful, actually integrate into this society and culture I love so much. I don’t want to be that person who doesn’t know the language of the place they’re living in. It just seems impossible for me. I have truly given it everything I’ve got.

I’m really struggling currently trying to find my passion to make my career. It seems like there’s nothing out there that I would be interested in and good at.

For some context, I finished my BA in psychology this year. I went to art school originally for a semester before transferring to another university to make a switch to psychology. I love art and creativity, but learned what I already knew from grade school that when my art is regulated I despise it. It wasn’t worth the low salaries and being overworked in the future to pursue something that wouldn’t make me happy.

I struggled on what to switch to for the rest of my undergrad, but decided on psychology. I have always been known to have an inquisitive mind when it comes to wondering why people do the things they do. The human mind was facilitating to me, so I thought it would be a good fit. I did enjoy my social psychology classes and some others. I was going to be a social psychologist, but upon looking deeper into the field in preparation for grad school at the start of this year I panicked. The schooling was far too long, expensive, and risky for my liking. It’s also probably the least paid and least popular job for a psychology job of that level. I’m also really bad at math, meaning I could never understand any of the statistic elements of my undergrad classes. I barely passed those classes and never had any idea what was going on. I would most likely be stuck in academia and doing research on the side. I could never teach since I don’t like working with people, have a large amount of social anxiety, don’t want to lesson plan or grade, and overall I worry about working in a school environment in particular. No one seems to enjoy working for them. On the research side of things, I don’t think I would be able to do it due to my absolute inability to pick up statistics and research methods. Even then, it seems like a pain to get research going with the funding element and you don’t exactly get to research what you want.

I deviated to school psychology, but am seriously doubtful of that idea currently. I don’t enjoy working with kids, don’t want to work in the schools, don’t want to counsel, don’t want to work with parents, and so on. It was appealing to me because of the lower degree requirements, safe job market, time off, being a little bit of your own boss, finding out why someone was struggling, getting people the services they need, and time alone in your own space to report write. I’m stressed just thinking about making school psychology my future.

The stress of grad school and time running out has me all over the place. I want to have something that I’m passionate about and will enjoy as a career, but nothing is there. I’m really only interested in art and nerdy things, with a quiet interest in psychology.

Important things:

I don’t like to be the one calling the shots

I like stability and not having things change plans

I want to make a solid living to live pretty comfortably in this world. Not looking for something with an annual salary below $60,000.

I’m not an entrepreneur, the stress of it would destroy me

I’m an introvert who prefers to be left alone

I value work-life balance

I’m pretty overly sensitive and emotional

I may not enjoy academic writing, but I’m good at it

I’m very sensitive to blood and gore

I like animals a lot

I’m also terrible at science. I really like history even though I have the memory of a goldfish. English was also enjoyable for me.

I wish for the betterment of society through better programs and education

I’m very weak physically

I don’t have the money for college, so shorter requirements in school is ideal so I don’t accumulate a lifetime of debt

If this post gave someone an idea of a job I could enjoy and be good at please let me know!

It seems that all school psychologists are burnt out and regret getting into their profession online and around me. Are any of you happy with your job? Not burnt out? Would anyone actually encourage others to pursue school psychology over something else?

I’m very curious about the experience of school psychologists in particular in stateside schools! I’ve been doing lots of research about the DoDEA lately, but there seems to be so little information about the stateside schools. Other positions besides school psychologists are more than welcome to give their perspective, as well. The more information the better!

I’m curious about why you were interested in the DoDEA as opposed to public or private schools. Was it worth it? Do you enjoy your state? Any recommendations for the best state to work at for the DoDEA? How long do you have to stay in one location? How is moving between stateside schools or districts? How long until you can move to an abroad location?

What are your responsibilities? Average psychologist to student ratio? Is the union strong? Are you able to start your application prior to finishing grad school so you can (hopefully) work right away after graduation ?

Please feel free to answer whatever you would like, I’m aware that I have a lot of questions. I’m also open to DMs! I would love to speak with you!

I’m curious about how long it generally takes to get in with the DoDEA as a school psychologist. Is it possible to get an offer relatively soon after college? Are some locations more competitive than others? I’m particularly interested in the Japan area!

Please feel free to dm!

I’m very curious as to how often school psychs take work home such as report writing after work hours. I wish to relocate to another state/district that will value my work-life balance and generally not take any work home with me.

If anyone feels comfortable sharing their state/district it would be very much appreciated! Would you recommend that location to others?

I would love to ask questions and learn from people working in the field!

I’m highly interested in becoming a school psychologist with the DoDEA in the future in Japan, but don’t want to take work home with me. How often do you take work home with you? How long did it take you to get hired? Would you recommend giving up your state job for the DoDEA? Are transfers still an option?

If you feel comfortable including where in Japan you work that would be very helpful!