Question of the Day | 09/02/2008 12:00 am

If you could switch careers today, what would you choose as your new field?

Shutterstock

Judith Martin | 09/02/2008 12:00 am

Judith Martin Seeks Career Advice

Do you know of any other career where a woman barely more than five feet tall can intimate everyone?

6 Comments

Joan Ganz Cooney | 09/02/2008 12:00 am

The One Thing Joan Ganz Cooney Doesn't Regret

It’s too late for me to think about switching careers even as a fantasy. I have no regrets on that score.

3 Comments

Liz Smith | 09/02/2008 12:00 am

Liz Smith: A Trophy Wife?

If I could switch careers today, I would like to be one of those young trophy wives with everything still ahead of me, working hard to reassure that investment banker or Google-type inventor entrepreneur that it should all be put in my name. I’ve been a fool about money all my life and in my second “career” I would put myself in a ”business” where I could change that circumstance.

Click here to read my column in the Post.

3 Comments

Read more about: Business, Career, Lifestyle, Money

81 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I love what I do so no change in that. I will continue molding the minds of future doctors. Interactng with them keeps me on my toes and excercise the mind. We learn from each other.

By Chari Bonagua on 09/02/2008 11:32 am

e-mail alert

I am very old now and would not change anything. But if I were able to start over I would love to have been an attorney, I would still be a nurse-educator because I loved my work. But I would want to be follow my original goal which was to attend Columbia, NY, and become a lawyer. It would have been nice to have that skill and it would have helped me along the way be an advocate for my students and patients.through the years. I am not sorry and I am glad that the glass ceiling is slowly being dissolved. No one remembers but in 1943 when I was barely 17 and applying for colleges, Law Schools had strict rules and limited admissions for women. One of my friends was accepted and she was exceptional and somehow made it through the brick wall.

By katywon LA.. on 09/02/2008 12:20 pm

e-mail alert

I’m glad you are a nurse and educator. What did you teach, kLA? Also, have you a spunky pug?

By Hines Hammond on 09/02/2008 8:09 pm

e-mail alert

My pug named Minnie Mouse passed away suddenly last May. She was only seven but they are so highly bred they sometimes have problems. So now I have a rescued chihuahua who was running wild on the streets and suffering malnutrition and all that goes with that. He is a charmer but pugs are my weakness. I am in California and my credential is k through 14. I am the product of the middle ages of medicine and was around to see the old days and work through most of the transplants, heart surgeries et al. But mostly I enjoyed the junior high and senior high kids. especially those in the inner cities in the 60’s and70’s. Never ask an old lady any questions, you are sure to get more answer then you needed. Thanks for your interest. Are you a nurse by any chance? Kate Arnott- Hawkins

By katywon LA.. on 09/02/2008 9:59 pm

e-mail alert

Kate — your reply nor your other posts do not seem long to me at all. In fact I would like to hear your thoughts for hours. I am pleased to have read this personal story you shared: “The most famous person I wish I had met is Eleanore Roosevelt. The most famous person I met was a holocaust survivor who I took care of when she was dying in UCLA hospital. She was difficult and demanding and in terrible pain. But she was so interesting ,talking about the old days in Buda -Pest and her upper class life at the time mingling with the Gabors and others when she was a young woman. Her name isn’t important but she taught me a lot. Her tattoo on her arm was her identity when she was leaving the world as it had been in a concentration camp surviving most of her family. As a child of the depression even after WW2 I was an innocent in a different world. I needed to hear what this woman had to say. My life and vision was expanded exponentially. I grew to love her and cried when she left us. Nurses in my day were trained not to show emotion. I grew up.” You know, I like wOw because I learn & grow here AND meet different people. You are special (compassion, character, integrity) and I’m glad you wrote here. My sympathies on the passing of Minnie Mouse. It seems some animals & personalities are true matches for people. I have had that in my past too; such unconditional love. Probably my greatest joy and the easiest thing to recall that makes me sad, tearful. The chihuahua has a good home with you, I’ve no doubts. Who’s “in charge” at your home - you or him? (smile) I must close and get back to my project. Oh, me? I’m now in public health (disease and emergency preparedness areas) and it is a much better fit than the ol’ HMO I was at for 23 years. Bye for now. Very nice to meet you Kate Arnott-Hawkins. -Hines

By Hines Hammond on 09/03/2008 12:32 pm

e-mail alert

By Hines Hammond on 09/03/2008 12:33 pm

e-mail alert

I want to grow up to be the female Huell Howser, videographer. If you live outside of California you probably don’t know him. He travels all over the state talking to people about their hometown or travel location. I’ve learned a lot about California from my armchair. He’s amazingly charming, interesting, interested and insightful. Lots of fun to watch and he gives us ideas of places to visit within our own beautiful state. His website: http://www.calgold.com

By Jozie Lee on 09/02/2008 2:05 pm

e-mail alert

I always thought Art Therapy would be a fascinating field. It is difficult to even think about changing jobs because the job market is so volatile today. People who have masters degrees are losing their jobs in droves—I see it in my boyfriend’s field and in mine. Where I work, my department has gone from 15 people down to two, and the other person is purposely making my life extremely stressful. I have no other source of income but the job I am hanging onto, by a thread; it is very difficult (but also a lovely daydream) to consider another field. But back to college, again? It would take forever. What to do? I honestly don’t know.

By kermie b on 09/02/2008 2:44 pm

e-mail alert

When I was in high school, I wanted to be a physical therapist. With my interest in human psychology, my dream career field today would definitely be occupational therapy. It has all of the elements that I would desire to do if I could go back to school and start over-healing arts, psychology, sociology and physical therapy. I was reading over a couple of sites that describe the field and it looks very rewarding.

By Lena B on 09/02/2008 2:46 pm

e-mail alert

Actually its a wonder you should ask such a question. I’ve been a secretary for about 20yrs and a mother for a little longer, owned a furniture store for a couple, went to school for computer programmming so forth and so on…..but now i find myself at 40+ starting to redirect my life and career and will be starting school thursday to begin work on my life long dream of becomming a Psychologist

By SHEILA CRAYNON on 09/02/2008 2:48 pm

e-mail alert

Good for you, Sheila. Good luck. Let us know how you’re doing.

By Jozie Lee on 09/02/2008 7:55 pm

e-mail alert

I am finally, as a middle-aged woman, doing exactly what I set out to do as a girl: write. I have my first book published and another on the way. But it has been a very winding road, career-wise. I started out as a teacher and a professional musician, then became a marriage and family therapist, while raising kids and rarely having the time to write. Then I reached a period in my life where I simply had to make the leap or I would have always regretted it. Fortunately, I have no desire to change careers at this point.

By Susan Gabriel on 09/02/2008 2:50 pm

e-mail alert

How great is this????? DO tell…. What is your book’s name, etc., etc….

By Mugsy Peabody on 09/02/2008 10:27 pm

e-mail alert

You are very kind to ask. The name of my book is “Seeking Sara Summers” and it’s about a woman at a crossroads in her life, like many women find themselves in. She’s been diagnosed with breast cancer, she’s in a marriage that isn’t fulfilling, and something’s got to change. (If the cancer doesn’t kill her, her mundane life will.) But things do indeed change, in ways she would have never predicted. For those of us old enough to remember the movie, Shirley Valentine, it’s that kind of story, but with a 21st century twist. Thank you, Mugsy, for your interest.

By Susan Gabriel on 09/03/2008 8:18 am