The average research scientist pulls in around 76K a year, which is equivalent to what a professor makes and still far below the 4 million average salary you get for playing baseball. I’m not talking about football or any of the other sports where CTE is known to be or have been an issue. I’m talking about boring old baseball. Granted its the national past time, but it isn’t even an olympic sport at this juncture. Meanwhile, real estate agents pulled in a median of 40K with a modicum of the talent and education required for any of the other two jobs. I suppose my point is this: All of this talk about what jobs people should train for and making your kid into this or that is ridiculous. The jobs we direct them towards are merely shades of what we were directed towards and or what we feel is worthwhile and profitable.
But there are a lot of profitable professions.
I chose the path of teaching because I get a lot of of it. I adore the interaction between myself and students at all ages. I love watching new talent grow, go on to be productive, and hopefully return to show students that there is a path to their own success. We spend so much of our lives working that it feels ludicrous to even consider working a job you don’t enjoy. I get that we all have to do things we want to at some point in life, but your job is a major facet of your life. Living with and hating it is just as bad as being in a destructive relationship.
I don’t always love my job, but I’m as much of a fan of it as anyone can be. And at least we aren’t trying to kill each other.