Young Writers Society

I’m really blown away by how many people here have concrete goals for their future, or at the very least, specific ideas in mind. It’s nice to see such clarity and foresight, and some of these plans are very clever!

EternalRain wrote:My dream is to have a career somehow working with literature, but beyond that I really don't know. I would love to publish a book and my dream would be to be an author, but besides writing I've also thought about working at a publishing company or being an English teacher or working in tv/film and even considered being a counselor of some sorts/careers in psychology.

WOW, are you me?? Because these are all career paths I’ve considered (and also, your Disney princess avatar is giving me serious “me” vibes).
My theory on this is that people who write or otherwise love stories make especially good psychologists/psychiatrists, since a big part of being a therapist is listening to people’s stories.
Anyway, you get a thumbs up from me on all those potential careers… not that I’m biased or anything…

Jaybird wrote:I'm currently going to school to become a high school science teacher - for my state's certification requirements, that means majoring in a subject (biology) and getting a master's degree.

Man, good at science and writing? You really lucked out. And that sounds like a great plan.

But, in the perfect world, I'd love to be a full-time writer. I already know that I'm going to publish works on the side while teaching - I have a novel and a podcast up my sleeve right now, and I've been making good progress on both of them.

A fellow podcaster! Yay! Being a writer definitely prepares a person well for podcasting, I think—the storytelling’s not so different in either medium.
And yeah, I feel you on the ol’ “get a day job but do writing on the side” plan. I’ve gone back and forth over the years, but that option has been the one I’ve returned to most often. Writing novels and podcasting on the side would be especially cool…

jster02 wrote:I've seriously considered going into either psychology or something to do with storytelling. Given an choice, I'd pick the latter, but even if I were to go into psychology, I could still write on the side.
At the same time, sometimes the thought of doing either of these things full time doesn't appeal to me at all. Sometimes, I feel like there's got to be something more to life than getting a steady job.

UGH I FEEL THIS SO HARD. I love psychology, I love writing, and there are times in my life where doing them both (one on the side, one as my main gig) sounds perfect… but then there are times where I’m like, “Would I actually be happy doing that?” And that question haunts me. O_O

I feel like once I go for a degree, I'm stuck with it, because I'll be in too much debt to change anything.

If it makes you feel any better, my college advisor told me it doesn’t matter what you major in. Most jobs don’t care about majors, so if you get an English BA or psychology BS, then decide you want to do something totally different—work in business or finance, for example—you should still be able to get a job in that other industry. Getting the degree is what matters, not the major. (Well, with some exceptions—obviously certain careers and master’s programs prefer specific majors. But for the most part, the whole “what should I major in??” question is overblown.)

Hedwiggle wrote:I love teaching little kids (I teach my sisters on the weekends for about one hour per day. And there's this other kid I teach, a ten year old boy. Quick story: we we're at a party, and the kid was there with his friend, and he suddenly looked at me and started talking to me. His friend asked him if he knew me, and you know what the kid did? With so much pride in his voice, he said I'm his teacher. ♡), I love seeing them play and make friends, and most of all, I love seeing them grow in front of my own eyes.
But yeah! Definitely going into teaching!

D’awwww, that story is so cute! It’s awesome that you know exactly what you’re passionate about. And it’s cool to see so many people on here interested in teaching (albeit in different fields/grade levels)! Teaching is such an important job, mad respect to all of you who are going into it. ^_^

PrincessInk wrote: I'm not really sure yet, but I've started to narrow down. I used to want to be a doctor, a mathematician, but now I think I want to do research in fields like molecular biology and biochemistry (which means I'm hoping I can eventually secure a PhD *crosses fingers*)
… I also like chem and physics and math and because of that I want a job which combines everything which I'm not sure I've found yet.

Dang, I am so intimidated by you, haha. Seriously though: that’s hella cool. Being good at/wanting to work in STEM is impressive, especially if you’re also good at writing. I know only one person who is good at both. ONE.

ElizabethEnder1952 wrote: Writing fun stories that inspire as a job? Sign me up. I'd also like to make a few podcasts, especially audio dramas.

Another podcaster! Hiiii!
Audio dramas are super cool. I’m firmly in favor of their creative resurgence. I’m starting to get really into audio storytelling myself—I hosted a radio show at my university and it was so much fun.
And, for anyone who sees this thread and likes podcasting/audio stuff, don’t forget that there are careers in that! Working for places like NPR or Gimlet are possibilities.

Right now I'm working on a degree in English (I'm dual enrolling in a college). It's a pretty general degree which is good cause I am always changing what I want to do.

Yeah, English degrees are surprisingly versatile. They get a bad rap (unfairly!), but English majors can go on to do pretty much whatever they want. They don’t have to just become English professors or authors (though they definitely can). And I’ve seen an example of this firsthand, because my aunt—one of the most successful, accomplished people I know—majored in English.
…and thus ends my “English majors are good!” PSA.

MeherazulAzim16 wrote:Somebody who makes a difference somehow.

SAME. Regardless of what I end up doing, that is my ultimate goal.

LadySpark wrote:Hello, just an oldie who's back visiting for awhile.

Hi LadySpark!! I remember you from when you were SparkToFlame

I'm graduating with my BS in Psychology in May, and hopefully will be going straight into a Doctoral program for Developmental Psychology this coming fall. After completing my Ph.D, I'd like to become a clinician while I'm raising my family (to have a little more flexibility), and then eventually move into a position as a professor at a university.
As for writing, I've started developing more concrete goals. … I've started to lay the plans for beginning my own preschool curriculum as well as having dreams to write college textbooks one day on child psychology.
All of this to say, I really just want to educate and share my love for learning with others. I am so passionate about my field of study and it's really helped me figure out who I am and what I want to be.
If all this fails, I'm moving to Colorado and opening up a bed and breakfast.

So, I realize you don’t need career approval from me, butttt… I’m giving it to you anyway. Seriously, all those plans sound fantastic. Developmental psychology? Awesome. Clinician? Awesome. Professor? Awesome. Writing college textbooks on childhood psychology and designing a preschool curriculum? Awesome. Opening up a bed and breakfast in Colorado? One of the best backup plans I’ve heard, lol.
But really, it’s so nice that you’ve found what you’re passionate about, and early congrats on your impending graduation!

IamI wrote: I'm in my first year of high school, so some while might say it's early, I say it's never too early.

Agreed. My college advisor told me I was worrying too much about my career in my first semester of university, but like… how could I not worry about it? It’s a big deal!

Lavvie wrote: In the meantime, before I grow into a writer, I'm going to be a psychotherapist. In fact, I'm in the middle of my Master's degree in Counselling Psychology. But the plan after is to get my MFA in Creative Non-Fiction

Love that. And also, wow—that’s a lot of schooling! So impressive. I’m in awe of those unicorns who get two master’s degrees. Not sure I could pull it off, tbh.
(And by the way—your avatar is divine.)

fraey wrote:I am in my second year of community college, and I think I have a decent game plan. Biology is my major, while becoming a high school biology teacher is a goal, and reach goals would be to a) become an athletic trainer (by going through a master's program) or b) getting a Doctorate from going through a physical therapy program, and becoming a physical therapist.

Great goals. Physical therapist and athletic trainer are such interesting options, and I imagine both would be very rewarding careers.

Lava wrote:A couple of the older YWSers know I'm working on my doctorate in science - genetics specifically.

Wow, that sounds fascinating!

I've wanted to be a dog mom for a while, and that goal has been completed as of Sep 2019!

Congratulations Having a lot of pets was my only goal in life for like, 85% of my childhood. Lol.

EverLight wrote: Stars Dreams!
Now that I've ''grown-up'' somewhat, the stars have called me to a destiny greater than earth, so I'm currently planning to major in Astrophysics, and maybe open up an Observatory and teach the young'un's about the universe.

This is so cool! At first when I read “star dreams,” I was thinking you were speaking figuratively—like your goal was to be a celebrity and reach “stardom”—but I’m VERY glad that’s not the case, haha. Majoring in astrophysics and opening up an observatory is a much better dream, and much more unique.

CaptainJack wrote: Right now I’m just an accounting major so the ideal dream endpoint is to be a forensic accountant.

That’s smart. Seems like a reliable, steady career. I’d definitely be considering accounting if I was any good with numbers.

LZPianoGirl wrote:First, and the one I have considered for the longest time, is an architect. …Second, is a pilot.

Architects and pilots are so cool. Those are probably two of the coolest career paths. Whichever option you end up going with, you get my stamp of approval

Please know that I never use the word star figuratively.

I wanted to be a therapist since I was about 16 and I’m now a therapist! For a long time I wanted to be a therapist for kids, which I did for several years and really enjoyed. But I’ve also been interested in working with survivors of trauma and I’m now working with adolescent girls with severe complex trauma and it’s hard but I really enjoy it!

There are definitely days when I fantasize about a nice calm job like a librarian, or being a full time writer and getting to stay in my house all day reading and writing. But I also think I’d get bored doing that after while :p

I want to be an author, obviously. (However, before I publish anything/if I don't publish anything, I either want to be a musician, programmer, or both.)

At the age of five, I wanted to be a librarian (I thought this meant that I could lounge around the library reading books for a living haha).

Then from ages six to ten I wanted to become a world adventurer who traveled to different countries writing books (also somehow thought this was a job).

When I got to highschool, I started to seriously consider becoming an artist of some kind and a writer on the side, while working in my family's IT business as a technician.

Most recently though, I've been thinking about nursing. It feels like the most realistic option for me and I think I'd be happiest as a nurse. Of course, I'll always keep up my art and writing on the side.

For a long time throughout my younger school years, I had no idea what I wanted to be and over I guess still now I don’t have definitive answer but I know which direction I want to go.

The first time I can ever remember being asked this question was when I was about 4. I just sort of shrugged and said, “tooth fairy?” Mainly because I wanted to back to nap time.

Over the years I learnt more about myself and now I can say with certainty that when I leave school I want to either work in film or television (specifically the directing or writing aspect) OR study history. Now when I say history I don’t mean all of it, I mean more of the world religions and mythologies and how these beliefs shaped our society today, either that or linguistics and how language has evolved over time.

Whatever I do, narrative writing will always be there even if it’s just a side hobby. With luck, it might grow into something more.

@HGsomeone

That's cool. I love learning about history and especially linguistics, religion, and mythology. I want to be a polyglot.

A nice thing about being both a history buff and a writer is that it gives you more knowledge and experience that you can use in worldbuilding.

I remember wanting to do something related to exploring nature. It then shifted to wanting to be a nature documentary producer, specifically by working on the field. Then it shifted to working with cameras for such a job.

Now, that dream isn't completely gone I suppose, since most of my current writing is based on trying to world-build around that kind of job. But I have less specific needs.

@Necromancer14 - Same tho! Literally, same exact!

@WinnyWriter well they ARE great jobs. Though actually for me, my options have changed since then. Now I either want to be a writer, a musician (Specifically a composer of some sort) or a youtuber. (I already am a "youtuber" in that I make youtube videos, but I'm not making any money yet and they aren't very good videos, so it doesn't really count so far.)

Ahhhhh I'm really thinking about becoming an author I've already published a damn book so it should be easier but you know about insecurity XD honestly not even full time, even being a part time writer who is somewhat respected would be a dream come true!

I also often teach my classmates a whole lot (one time I had to teach a girl 2 lessons an hour or so before the actual exam and she did great YES!) and my love lies on English and Literature so being an English professor looks like something I'd seriously enjoy!

This was a great thread (I think that's what it's called) idea!

I want to go to College at UCLA for football (soccer), and eventually play for the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Should I stop playing football for some reason, I'd like to study law and become a lawyer. Probably a prosecutor.