TIP FOR LIFE: CHOOSING A FIELD OR COURSE TO STUDY

CHOOSE TO STUDY SOMETHING YOU LOVE DOING … Many students and people study courses because their parents, guardians or even friends are doing those - or have done the same programme in the past. So often we find three generations of medical doctors, lawyers or teachers. 

That is fine, if the person influenced is interested in tasks in those professions – what s/he may be doing for the rest of his or her life. For you, if you are in a difficult situation to decide, do what my Maths teacher told us decades ago: “Choose your career/field of studies along your area of interest, what you want to do and what you find easier doing.” I

f you want to help sick people, go into the medical field. If you want to help people with legal issues, train to become a lawyer. And if you love learning, and help people learn, become a teacher/lecturer. If you like working with words and writing, consider courses and a career in journalism or to help you become a writer or language teacher. 

The advice by the Maths teacher did not mean, we choose all the easy things to do. I urge you to tackle challenging subjects too – not just the easier ones that everybody is doing. 

You know why? If you get the same kind of paper that everybody has, then you will not be marketable. In other words, you will find it hard to secure a job because there are hundreds of other people with the same kind of paper that you have and are applying for the same jobs you are applying for.