by oldjon » Wed Nov 02, 2011 2:02 am
OK, since no-one else is answering I thought i'd get the ball rolling.
I know exactly how u feel cos i've been there. I once said to my dad when I was 19, "i dont know what to do with my life, i dont know what my career should be". He was in his mid 50's when he said, "nor do i, just do what you're passionate about and what you enjoy and it will fall into place. i'm happy. and i've acheived".
so the real question is, what do you want to do? I ask this because the areas u want to get into are so varied.
you said, "I have a high school diploma and really need to start working towards a psychology degree, as it's the field I've been interested in for about as long as I can remember." yet the areas you are interested in dont need a degree in psychology. i know alot of people who have a psychology degree and they are working in a field that is not in any way related.
lets break down what u said u want to do into 2 cateorgories:
1. studying the psychology of humans in every day situations (HR or anthropology perhaps?), social groups (which social groups and why?), mental disorders (mental health nurse maybe?)
2. doing research and studies (academia then?)
the second one can only happen when you move up the ranks of academia. i.e. do a 1st degree and then get a masters in order to get a research post or phd. it's actually not that unacheivable. alternatively, do research in your own time and submit this to journals. sounds daunting but actually very easy.
to answer the first one you have to ask yourself, "why?". why do you want to study the psychology of humans in every day situations? why do you want to know about social groups? in what capacity do you want to learn about mental disorders?
then you have to ask yourself an extremely important question, "how do i want to apply this knowledge?"
this question is key. it separates the people who just want to know, for "knowings sake", from those that want to do something with the knowledge.
once u have a knowledge of what you want to do (and this doesnt mean 'for life' - afterall, you're young enough to move around and do lots of different things, it's called "life-long learning" - i mean in the present, the now) then you can make decisions.
one thing i would say though, online courses are provided by people who dont "do" as opposed to people who have, and are, doing. forget online courses. scrimp and save and apply to do a "real" course that provides you with something employers and academics accept as being worthwhile. go to university. its not that scary ... millions of people do it and so can you. plus, its fun ... and easier!
i hope this helps.
good luck in what you do. there is no "right" path. just choosing a path to begin with is "right".
