Future

So I went into my boss's office today to ask a question and he sat me down.  He's heard me talking about my interests in public health and that I might be considering going to graduate school for public health.  He discussed my recent graduation from Penn State, my majors, and my research experience and really didn't see me liking public health.  In the nicest way possible he told me that I would be pretty disappointed with a public health degree and that I shouldn't limit myself to one program type.  After asking me about my hopes and dreams and where I see myself in the future and what I aim to do as a person he reflected on them.  I've always wanted to help design, implement, and evaluate interventions regarding a public health topic for children.  He explained to me that public health degrees get you to focus on one sole problem-- obesity, alcohol, cancer, etc.  And that public health degrees serve as an end-all... that most people in public health programs are getting the degree to get a certain job (like you can't have this job until you get this degree-- so you go back to school to get it, and then you get your job).  And honestly what he was saying was true.  It's a very limiting degree, especially at the master's level.  And most professionals in public health are implementing already-developed empirical programs. They're not designing their own.  He encouraged me to look into different programs like developmental psych or human development where I could get a Ph D and then work in public health departments, educational psych departments, or medical colleges to work with other professionals on developing intervention strategies for children based on their needs, which is exactly what I want to do.

As this discussion went on and on I was really appreciative.  This man is in charge of such a life-changing and painstakingly long study.  He is so kind, compassionate, and honest.  He has 35 interns and knows all about my past research, educational experiences, and hopes and dreams-- and I've known him for a week.  He took time out of his day (and my time away from finishing up some tasks-- while he was still paying me) to sit me down and get me thinking about my future.  I don't like talking about my future because I'm still unsure how to get there.  But having someone-- who has been through a PhD program and has seen many grad students come and go-- sit me down and discuss my options was really touching.

The fact that he felt that I had potential made me feel really important.  He wanted to continue our conversation later, but assured me that if August rolled around and I was still unsure of what I'd be doing in the fall that there was always a spot for me in the University of Alabama's Human Development grad program.  That's probably when my jaw dropped, "if you change your mind... it'd be no problem at all... I could get you into the program the day before class starts... just let me know."