On the Future (My Big Life Update )

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This post has taken me forever to write.

I think the hesitation stems from two things: lack of time and, to be honest, I’ve had a sense of trepidation over putting things down in writing since they make things just that much more official. So here it goes!

I’m changing career paths. 

It’s out! I’m relieved! I’m nervous! But most of all, I’m excited.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Growing up, I always wanted to be a vet. My younger self couldn’t imagine anything I’d like to do more and I was always very steadfast in my belief that I was going to be a vet for the rest of my life. I was the girl who always knew what she wanted to grow up to be and didn’t go into high school or college with any doubt over what I wanted to study or major in. I got accepted to UCSB (the college I knew I wanted to go to for quite some time) as a pre-biology student in their honors program and was ready to get to work. I hit my sophomore year (without a doubt the worst year of my life in terms of stress) and came to the realization that working with animals 24/7 was just not what I wanted to do for years on end.

And that was scary.

I had always had everything planned out, and now, I was feeling lost. It’s hard to go from knowing exactly what path you want to take, then suddenly coming to the conclusion that it just wasn’t the right fit anymore. I felt almost panicked and racked my mind for another career that seemed enjoyable and was somehow related to soft-medicine (I knew surgery or ER work wasn’t right for me) and I latched onto the idea of physical therapy. I mean, I’m interested in health and taking care of your body, it fit the soft-medicine category where I wouldn’t have to be on call and could have a family, and I knew I would be good at it.

Then, one day, I was lying on the carpet in our garage-turned-study-room (which is really dirty and I probably shouldn’t do that anymore) taking a break from studying and mentioned to Kyle that not getting into PT school in the first round of applications wouldn’t be the end of the world and that I could just re-apply if I wasn’t accepted when I applied the first time. He turned to me and said something along the lines of, “Yea! I mean, there’s so much you could do in a gap year. You could get more work experience in hospitals or outpatient places, take some time away from school, or start to get your MBA”.

It had never even occurred to me to think of doing anything outside of medicine.

It was in that one moment where things just sort of clicked.

Here’s the thing. I’m good at business. I love interacting with people and the freedom that comes with the extra job mobility of business is extremely attractive to me. To be honest, I was dreading med school knowing that going to a specialized PT school for three years would lock me into the job. I can’t see myself loving working at that one specific niche job for 10+ years, let alone my whole life. I feel absolutely liberated and can’t even begin to express in words how excited and relieved I feel. I have options and don’t need to be stuck in one career for years on end if I don’t enjoy it!

So that leads me to explaining more about what I have going for me right now. While I’ve decided that I don’t want to pursue becoming some sort of doctor, I am not just going to disregard the B.S that I’ll be getting in biology when I graduate next year. At the moment, I can see myself working in the business side of pharmaceutical/medical companies or in health-related industries. For the past few months, I’ve been working as an intern at the American Heart Association sector in Santa Barbara and have been having a great time connecting medicine/health with public education and prevention. I’ll most likely continue the internship next year as well and am going to see where life takes me!

But there’s more that comes to mind as well. I started blogging during the spring quarter of my freshman year and this blog has grown more than I could have ever imagined. I discovered my passion for photography and it has lent itself to helping my blog develop both in its style, traffic, and overall quality and it has prompted another small business venture to grow in my portrait photography. I’ve been approached by a few wedding photographers to shoot for them and am consistently amazed by how fast both Apple of My Eye and C.S Photography are growing.

Camera Photo

It’s come to the point where my two small businesses (and yes, it’s really weird calling my blog that) are generating me a full-time income and, if I needed to, I would be able to completely support myself and even put myself through college with my earnings. I’m lucky in that my parents want to support me until I graduate, but it really puts things in perspective for me and makes me wonder where things could potentially go if I was able to devote myself full-time into the two. At the moment, I’m juggling a million things at once and am usually up till 1-2 a.m and wake up around 7 a.m to get everything I need done between college, my internship, the blog, and photography sessions and I can’t help but think of what could come out of being my own boss full time. Heck, I could earn way more than being a physical therapist AND my happiness levels would be monumentally higher.

As my mom likes to say, “Christine has quite the entrepreneurial spirit” and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do. I love blogging and photography with all my heart.

It’s beyond exciting and I wake up every. single. day ready to carpe the freaking diem and get to work growing my businesses. (albeit I am slowly dying from the lack of sleep and I think my blood has turned into coffee, but oh well).

Latte Photo

In conclusion, I’ve never been busier, but I’ve also never been happier. And I know I’ve used the word “excited” a million times already in this post, but it’s the first word that comes to mind whenever the subject of the future comes up. Even Kyle says my attitude towards life, overall stress levels, and happiness have done a complete 360. I’m in a MUCH better place mentally than last year and am beyond grateful to have come to this realization before getting overly committed to a path that just wasn’t right for me.

So yup, lots of words today. Thanks for following along and I hope your eyes didn’t glaze over too much 😉 .

 

Comments

  1. says

    Wow! That’s incredible that you’ve built your income to that level. Well done! I’m jealous that you know what you want to do (and that it involves the study you have already done). I came to japan hoping I’d fall in love with teaching but that hasn’t happened. Although I love it here I can’t imagine teaching surly teenagers back home in New Zealand!

  2. says

    AHHHHH. Ok I don’t want to see I saw this coming but… kind of. I know how much you love blogging and photography and I’m so, so happy that you’re taking the leap. It’s kind of a no brainer. Excited for AOME’s future and to continue creepin’ on your senior portraits/wedding photography. It really is true–you can do whatever you put your mind to. Congrats lady!

  4. says

    My best friend went to school for physical therapy (oncology exactly) and post grad got a masters in something totally different and now she works on the business side of medicine and loves it. Another close friend started as a vet tech and ended up in engineering, now she is in developmental sciences for new drugs at a pharmaceutical company. Your story sounds so similar to theirs, but you have the added bonus of already having some business experience. I think you have a huge, bright and crazy future ahead. I’m so jealous that I wasn’t more forward thinking at your age. If it makes you happy and supports you then you have it made!

  6. says

    This is so awesome! I remember coming to college as a music major think I would be a professional performer, then changing to Communications once I realized how much I loved working with the public. You’re so talented and I think your skills from blogging and photography will make you marketable in so many ways!

  7. says

    I really admire you, Christine! You are following your dreams and that’s what really counts! Your blog is amazing, as is your photography, so I’m sure the future holds such great things for you! I wish you the best of luck and can’t wait to see what happens for you next!

  9. says

    I love this post, and I can relate so much! I’ve never really been the person who knew what they wanted to do their whole life. I’ve been up and down and explored many different career paths. I am currently in health education/promotion similar to what you are doing and that’s what I’ll be graduating with, but I also LOVE blogging, youtube, and the idea of starting my own business and am continuing to pursue that. I’m basically all over the place, but I love it all! Congrats girl, I know you have a bright future ahead of you :)

  10. says

    Love this so much!!! Always, always, always go with your gut instinct! That’s why I never followed through with grad school for counseling! It looks like you’ve got your head on straight!

  11. says

    I am so so excited for you! I’ve loved watching your photography business just explode on Instagram and of course your blog is amaze! So happy for you and this exciting career change – you are awesome! :)

  12. says

    So happy for you. I know the feeling of realizing that your path will change so well and it’s not always the easiest but you have limitless potential and talent! Can’t wait to see where the future takes you 😀

  13. says

    I am just very happy for you, and you should be happy and grateful, some people realize too late what they dislike and sometimes don’t have the option to change something, you have been blessed with opportunities, and I am sure that your bachelor degree helped you become a smarter, more reasonable and educated person so you should cherish those years as well, they were not a mistake, just something you felt its best for you at the moment. Its good that you can listen to yourself and embrace that opportunities life gives you, good luck in everything :)

    • says

      Thank you so much, Katalina! It’s honestly just the biggest relief off my shoulders to finally come out and admit that medicine is not what I want to do. It was a scary realization for me!

      Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)

  14. says

    I’m so happy for you! I had a similar experience-although my journey ended up leading to me wanting to be a vet! It’s such an amazing feeling when you actually know what you want to do!

  15. says

    So happy that you’re happy! The amount of hard work you’ve put into both your blog and photography business is so apparent and I love that you’re getting to delve deeper into both of them. Andddd….the business side of medicine sounds like a natural fit for you, and I hope you continue enjoying it or find something even better if not! Woohoo!

  16. Denise Chang says

    Hi Christine! I hope you are doing well! I’m so happy for you and your career choices! When I read your post, it reminded me of my husband, Jerome. He is an architect by training, but he, too, fell out of love with that career and started his own co-working business, Blankspaces. If you ever want to pick his brain about being an entrepreneur or starting a business, let me know. He is very passionate about his business and is devoted to its expansion and growth. Anyway, good luck! Just thought I’d say hi! Hope to see you soon for our next family portrait! Xoxo
    Denise Chang

    • says

      Hi Denise!

      Thank you SO much for commenting with all your support and kind words! It’s funny because I was just thinking about possibly looking into some communal work areas since reading about another blogger who uses them. It’s awesome that Jerome is following his passion and I would absolutely love to talk to him more about all the inner workings of being your own boss.

      Can’t wait to see you guys again! I still have your Christmas card on the fridge haha!

  17. says

    Wow – that was some post! No wonder it took you so long to get that out.

    Honestly, it’s SO much better to figure out what you want to do in life by trial and error…and if you already can’t imagine yourself in a particular field before you start a career, now’s a good time to re-think everything.

    I can’t believe how much you juggle at once…but I believe the more you have going on, the better you get at managing a ton of different things in life.

    I’m so excited to see what the future has in store for you!
    Jackie
    Something About That

  22. says

    Congratulations!! That’s so… Exciting! ;). I’ve been sort of dealing with that myself lately too (but in high school). Congratulations on figuring it out, that sounds so freeing, and you are such a great blogger and photographer. Have fun with it!
    Emma

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