HELP!!!!!

[amberrea]

I am in some desperate need of advice. I have recently applied for college. I am 24 and am married with an 18 month old. I previously attended college but it didn't fit with my goals. It was a big university and I came the the conclusion that I wanted a job instead of spending so many years in school.

I really want to get into the health profession but I am second guessing myself at every turn. I find a career that sounds great but then I keep thinking to myself "Am I smart enough for that?" or "Could I make those decisions?" I was a pretty good student in high school and I graduated with honors but my math skills have always held me back. When starting this whole process I wanted to be an ultra sound tech. But I saw that you need a strong foundation in math and I don't feel that I am up to that. Then there was Respiratory therapy. And my doubts with this career pretty much became my doubts for all the others I have considered. The question is always "Am I ready to make split second decisions when I need to?" and "Even if I am not ready now, is that something that the program teaches you and prepares you for?" I also think that surgical technology would be a good fit too but again, I am unsure. The only career that I have not had this feeling about is EKG technology. I can see myself easily being able to handle this but from all of my research, I have found that it doesn't earn the kind of salary that I want to earn and it is only a certificate, not a degree which is what I am looking for.

I guess what I really need / want to know is how hard it is to be a Respiratory Therapist and a Surgical Tech. Becuase my ONLY reservations are dealing with self confidence. And I am wondering if this is something that fades once you go through the program and are taught the skills for the job, or is it a situation where I HAVE to have the ability to make split decisions to even be right for the job? Also, how intense is the math specifially in these two careers?

I am sorry for making you read all of this, I just don't want to make a mistake like the first time I went to school. I want a career. But I want to make sure I am right for that career. Thank you in advance for all of your advice!

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

Well, you can't stay in that "should I or shouldn't I?" place forever, and you won't truly know if the job you choose is a good fit until you do it for a while. I'm a CNA in long term care and don't know much about hospital jobs, but if you want a degree in health care I think your best bet is to get a certificate, get a job in the field, and then start taking your pre-reqs, since a lot of them are the same for all healthcare degrees. By the time you're done with them you'll probably have a better idea of what you're capable of and what you want to branch off into.

I wouldn't worry too much about your self-confidence. You'll gain a lot of that in your training, and if you're working as a tech, CNA, respiratory aide, whatever, you'll be familiar with what goes on. No one stats off totally confident.

[amberrea]

Thanks so much for the advice!

[gnomik79]

Never just sit back and ask yourself "am i smart enough?" or "is this for me?" What you need to do is to simply try it, maybe more than once, and then come to that conclusion. You will never know unless you try it first. That's how it all started for me. Good luck! :)