I Call Do Over!

What do you want to be when you grow up?  I never knew the answer to that question.  Well, I lie.  I did know, but the answer would change daily.  I think every kid at some point wants to be a garbage man, riding around on the back of the big loud trucks is so tantalizing a prospect.  Same with being a fireman.  Suited up in gear, riding into the heat of battle, using the giant circular saw... the better question becomes, who doesn't want to be a fireman?  I had answers across the board... teacher, ambassador (yeah, I know), chef, you name it.  Now, I'm not saying I have it all anything figured out yet...  Hell, my goals have changed so many times, who am I to say they won't change again.

I started off as an economics student at Baruch College.  I earned my BBA and worked in finance during the economic resurgence of 2002-2006.  During that period, I learned a lot about the financial markets, the global economy, stock trading, and the fact that I really wanted nothing to do with any of it.  Don't get me wrong... I love economics, but I was interested in 'micro' economics, the study of the allocation of scarce resources, and sadly, finance lately has little to do with actual economics.  Unfortunately, no one listens to an economist with only a BBA.  So I was screwed... the only available jobs for an economist at my level were in a field I knew I hated.

Luckily for me, a global financial news media company, which I will try to keep nameless, was hiring economics (and finance) students as computer programmers.  Wait, what!?  Yeah, the company figured it would be easier to teach me how to program than it would be to teach a programmer economics.  Okay, I can handle that... And so, I began my first full-time job.  Little did I know, I really don't like programming either.  Crap!

Tools of contemplation

Over the next four years as a programmer, a number of different situations arose that had me doing more and more independent research about the human body.  Whether it was nutrition based (what should I be eating to become a faster swimmer or lift heavier) or help cure my brother who has ulcerative colitis (a disease of the large intestine).  I began researching the causes and cures of my relentless heartburn, the shoulder tendonitis that plagued my swimming, even the vertigo ("yes, its a serious medical condition") that my mom complains of.  It was then I started to notice that I found  something I really liked.  I want to be a doctor.

A little over a month ago, after much contemplation and internal debate, I quit my glorious, high paying job as a programmer to enter Columbia University's pre-med program.  I could have taken the easy route and stayed.  I earned enough to have my own apartment in Manhattan, I travelled the world, I bought any new product that Apple developed, I was a 'rock star'.  I let it all go and left it all behind.  I'm taking the more difficult yet, hopefully, more satisfying path.  Another 10 years of school, student loans, etc.  Im a poor, starving college kid, looking to make new friends, have new experiences and learn more about life.  Again.