Alright so I'm [hopefully] gradating with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts this fall. Not a big deal I know.

See here is the problem. I work in retail at a store you like to call Rite Aid. I'm getting promoted to Shift Supervisor. I've been working there 3 years. There's your background.

I've realized I love to help people. I'm now looking for a career that I can do just that in.
I don't really want to be a doctor or nurse so those are out.
What I need from you guys is to make suggestions for careers that have to do with helping people that you think I would like.

P.S. - Anything Social Science wise is fine too. I'm quite fascinated with sociology and that type of stuff.

Here are some I've already got mentioned to me:

- Consulor [marriage, divorce, whatever]
- Stay in retail [which I'd hate to do]
- Move into Human Resources
- Speech therapy
- Helping children
- Helping cancer patients


ANYTHING is welcome. ANY idea you can think of. Please no stupid ideas!

Thanks guys! <3

Fuck off. You obviously have no idea what speech pathologists do, otherwise you wouldn't be meh'ing it.

Bawmshell,

I wouldn't listen to anything Frostbite has to say but that's just me.

Before I saw your list I was going to recommend speech pathology but saw it was on there. I am a speech language pathologist and it is a very rewarding career. You can help people from 0-100+ basically and it's so much more than just helping people with speech. Most of my professional career has been working with adults and geriatric patients and I love it. I have helped people who couldn't eat anything by mouth to be able to eat again. I have helped Parkinson's patients with weak, soft voices have a loud, strong voice again. I have helped stroke patients communicate again. That's just the surface of it. Maybe I'm biased but it's a very rewarding career and I love it.

That said, any therapy is a great field to get into. Physical therapy and occupational therapy are very rewarding careers. You can also make good money while you help people, which is a nice perk. :)

The other suggestions you have been given were good, too. I think working with cancer patients would be rewarding. You would have sad stuff (I do with my career, too) but when someone gets better it makes it all worthwhile.

Good luck! :)

Thank you Mrs. Giller! What you wrote actually really made me think about what I want to do and helped me narrow things down a bit.

Also thank you Mrs. Crawdad for your help and advice :) Also congrats on the baby!

It really means a lot that you guys would take time to help me out.



& Frostbite by "helping children" I meant helping abused children and children going into foster homes cope. Now I'm thinking more of a therapist type field for me.

Hi Bawm,

I suggest you consider professional guardian/guardian ad litem. My sister and I are legal guardians for my grandmother, who has Alzheimer's. We're not pro, of course, we care for our grandmother for free. But from this I have a pretty good understanding of the pro's job (seeing that bills are paid, care is proper; estate is maintained; see to health and happiness, etc. working with various bureaucracies for your charge; representing their interests to the court.) This type of job is in increasing demand... And my experience with some guardian ad litems is... there's DIRE need for actual good, caring ones (compared to the incompetent, money grubbing F-bag I had to deal with). Taking on the guardianship role for children and/or venerable adults who have no one in their family able to care for them is a great way to help others. Plus, my understanding is the pay (for a pro) is relatively good. I believe training is not too much either (though I'd suggest you redirect your schooling toward paralegal and managing finances). There really aren't enough legal guardians seeing to the good social, financial and health care of those that cannot help themselves.

Also, consider domestic violence victim advocate/prosecutor's office victim advocate. I have had recent experience where help from DV victim advocate was needed. I can tell you, these people are a frickin' godsend. I'm very appreciative. A great way to help people in need during a traumatic time w/o having to change bedpans. :) Again, education toward paralegal in this career choice would be helpful; along with psychology.

Cancer care/counseling and hospice (don't have to be a nurse, they need administrators and counselors, too). I have also had recent experience with that arena (god my life is fucked). These people are absolutely wonderful. I'm sure the job can be heartbreaking at times, but also very uplifting at other times. And even a patient is terminal, keep in mind all the good you can do to help a person be in comfort and security in their final days (not to mention help family during and after). If I win a billion dollar lottery, a shit-load of $ is going towards donations to hospice; believe me.

Um, HR. I guess it depends on where you work. The job is very portable, that's good. But from my limited observation were I have worked, you may find a job in this area will be less about helping people than you think. (not intending insult on any HR folks out there; just my observation)

Teaching, grades K-4 for public schools, K-8 for priviate. Private = less pay typically but according to the many private school teachers I know, more rewarding.

Thank you for the information tpractice. I never really thought of being a teacher but I suppose it could be quite rewarding. I know I got back and see teachers I loved/helped me through hard times.

Cantrip: thanks for the boost of support. I looked at my school and we actually have a nursing degree with a plan of what to take all set out. Next time I go into school I'll have to talk with someone in the nursing program about if they like it.

Growf: It's okay I don't judge. However you did make some really good points. I also really appreciate that you gave your advice on what you think I should get [education wise] before going into a certain field.

Thank all of you for taking the time to answer. It really means a lot to me!

#1 bullshit

#2 i cant believe what i am about to say but muff has a good idea. Physical therapists get paid GOOD and the job is rewarding for most

This is a subject i know. You can do anything from helping little kids recover from some kind of physical injury to old people trying to recover from surgery

If you find a good hospital ( NOT a Hospis(how ever spelled) or a home) with a modern work station and good reputation. Then you can do anything from water therapy to basic working out on equipment with them(keeps you fit and sexy too...Bonus?)

Personally i think its better for the soul too. You meet people when they are down and in pain but chances are not terminal .It means you get to bond with them as you help them on the way to recovery

Speech therapy is a great field, but just like Mrs. C said, Mrs. G is the one to go to for advice there. :)

I know you said no nursing/doctor fields for you, but it's always worthwhile to point out that nurses/doctors can get their degrees and then specialize. You can get your RN, which can be as low as an AA or as high as a PhD, and then you can specialize like craaaaaazy. RNs (and doctors) don't have to work in the classic office/hospital setting. You can work in laboratories, schools, you can help build or sell medical equipment, you can teach (nursing teachers, btw, are going to be in MAJOR demand and can make TONS of money) and you can do all types of therapy as a RN or doctor.

Physical therapy is a great field too, but take it from the wife of a physical therapy student: it is EXTREMELY competitive and it's getting worse. If you want to get into a physical therapy field, you'll have to have some spank'n good grades (mostly As and a high B or two), lots of shadowing at different physical therapy facilities and some weird class requirements as the grad schools get pickier.

The best advice I can offer, though, is this: find some places that offer internships/shadow work in each of the fields you're looking into and spend some time in those fields. (Check with your school counselor, chances are they can help you find those opportunities.) This is a great way to get a feel for each field and a painless way to figure out if you would HATE the field. Trust me, as I speak from experience: you don't want to spend three or four years working towards a field you will end up HATING... it's a ton of work down the drain and kind of on the deflating side.

That's about all I can think of at the moment... I hope it helps! Best of luck and keep us posted on how things go! :)