While such a decision seems on the surface, pragmatic, it simply isn't that straight forward. See, I've been in the workplace for longer than I've been in tertiary study, I know what "think about the money before education" leads to.
It leads to depression. Loneliness. Regret and dissatisfaction.
The thing that all of you who are leaping at telling me to take the job over university are missing is that I'm thirty-one. If I want a career in psychology, I need to get my qualifications sooner rather than later. It's easier for me at 33 to be looking at research grants than at 35 and competing with younger researchers.
It is also a case of not being able to commit to work because I'll always be thinking "next year I go to university" at which point I still need to be making all the financial worries I'm going through now but with the added worry of "should I really give up this job I don't like, and suffer the major income loss for a dream?"
That's why such short-term thinking as "take the job and worry about your future when you're financially stable" leads to so many people being depressed in their lives. Better to chase a dream and be happy that you gave it a shot than to languish in a job you hate.
Not to say that I will hate the job I'm being interviewed for, I'm going in there keen to find out about it and if it sounds cool, I'll be happy to take it. I have an other interview today as well for a part-time job to support me while I'm at university - because I have been thinking in the long-term. So that kind of puts paid to the whole not having an income theory. I've been keeping myself open to the various opportunities.
Not meaning to be harsh to those who have been kind enough to give me advice, but I am wanting to be clear about why I'm not going to just leap up and agree. This degree could open a great deal of doors for me, and is potentially worth the extra year of lower income. I've been surviving so far, and with a job that pays reasonably well, I am certain I can manage to handle my bills and expenses while at Uni.
So it becomes an issue of do I think I can do University, or will I crash and burn? That's what I'm thinking about. What if I'm not skilled enough for the job? That I get it and find it too much for me, but if I'd taken that year out at university I may have picked up the necessary skills to do well at it.
These are all very important things to consider.
Once I would have just lept at the job, but back when I did that last time I ended up being stuck at Sky City for three years until I finally had the guts to return to university and finish my degree.
So thanks for the advice, but saying "think about the money" has never worked with me before, and it wont even now. If you genuinely think I should take the job, it will need to be for a much better reason than that. I know what makes people depressed, and it is taking advice like "just think about the money." So many bad things have happened from people thinking like that...
Love and Huggles
Conan
Currently Reading: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Currently Playing: Fireborn - Rememberance; Unknown Armies - To Go; Mage: The Awakening - Threshold
Mood: Still in "take-charge" mode
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