6 stories about those who did their own thing when choosing a profession and turned out to be right

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Listening to elders is not always helpful. Especially if their advice gets in the way of making the dream come true.

Often the choice of a profession is not entirely conscious: parents, wishing well for their children, make a decision for them. They prepare the future graduate for a certain specialty, brushing aside other options as "frivolous" or "unpromising". Our stories are about those who found the courage to go against their parents and get the desired education. Even if not immediately.

1. Directing instead of jurisprudence

In elementary school, I enjoyed writing stories from pictures. I took a book with illustrations and came up with what the people in the drawings were doing. I wrote it down in a notebook and then read it out to family members. At first, the listeners were moved, and then they got tired of my "fairy tales". Once my mother said: "Olya, you must become a director, you will get your colleagues, not your family." I knew little about the profession at that moment, but I liked the idea. And I firmly decided: I'm going to directing.

When I went to the children's video studio in ninth grade, my parents tensed a little. But they began to speak seriously about higher education only in the eleventh. Then I signed up for preparatory courses at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. I had to promise my family: if I don’t apply, I immediately go to the legal one. Closer to graduation, attitudes at home deteriorated.

Every time I didn’t succeed in the course, my family immediately said that there was still a chance to go to law school.

As a result, I went to the paid department as a TV director: I wanted to make films, but at that moment there was no recruitment for the cinema department at the BGAI. My parents were waiting for my studies to begin, I could not cope and would change my mind, but everything worked out for me. They were worried that it would be difficult for me to find a job, but I was lucky here too: in my third year I got a job at MTRK Mir immediately as a program director. The salary at the start was higher than that of the parents, which reassured them.

Relatives still assess the level of my success by salary and promotions: what the director does, it seems to me, they do not fully understand.

After graduation, I continued to work on television: I directed the program “Dream! Take action! Be! " Then she went on a free voyage, was engaged in television documentary in a private studio. I work on TV again, this time at Belteleradiocompany. Last year I shot the short film "The Most Terrible Fear", and now I'm finishing the script for a full-length film.

2. Linguistics instead of logistics

Dmitry Sinitsin Moscow

I learned about the educational program "Fundamental and Computational Linguistics" at the Higher School of Economics in the tenth grade. Then he became interested and began to intensively prepare for admission.

Mom was unhappy with my choice, but she never spoke about it directly, only in hints. And my friends supported me.

I applied for three specialties: oriental studies, linguistics and logistics. I chose the first and the second because of the desire to study there, and the logistics - because the subjects that I passed were suitable. There was not even a thought that I would go there.

Ironically, I went everywhere, but on the budget - only on logistics. When my mother found out about this, she began to call and write to me, persuading me to go to the logistics, while my friends and I in St. Petersburg celebrated the admission. I complained to my sister, and she said that logistics is a wonderful opportunity to ensure a peaceful life for the next four years. And, no matter how ashamed I am now, I agreed. Because of the exam, I almost never lived: I gave up my hobbies, hung out a little with friends, was in terrible stress. I realized that I don't want this anymore.

I honestly tried to go to school without bad thoughts. But when I saw the schedule, I realized that the only subjects that I liked were general faculty: philosophy, history and higher mathematics.

Microeconomics, business ethics, and a career guidance seminar about logistics were not just something I didn’t like - they caused rejection.

Since November, I have begun to appear less and less at the university. When I realized that I needed to go there, I started to feel sick, my blood pressure rose and my head ached wildly. I finally realized that it was time to change something when I went to see my grandmother. She said what will forever remain in my memory:

“You can endure and wait for life to change. But then she will pass by, and you will not have time to enjoy her. I would not want such a fate for my grandson."

As a result, my mother said that she no longer wanted to see my suffering and I needed to transfer to the chosen specialty. At first I thought of dropping out and getting some rest. But my mother was sharply against: my majority came a couple of days before the spring draft - I had to quickly make a decision. I was not happy with this situation, but now I am very grateful to her.

Honestly, I got used to linguistics for a long time. Missing an entire semester seemed like I would never catch up with my classmates. Even now I sometimes think so. However, I feel that I am now in my place: I am comfortable at the faculty and really enjoy studying. I sometimes continue to say for a laugh that it's time to leave and go “to make nails,” but there is no grain of truth in these jokes.

3. Journalism instead of medicine

Lena Avdeeva Chelyabinsk

I chose my profession in the seventh grade. Now the reason for this seems very ridiculous: I loved the "Star Factory" and wanted to conduct programs "like Yana Churikova." Relatives took it calmly, because I was only 13 years old.

So I started going to the local press center, where I wrote news articles and reports for a youth newspaper. Of course, it didn't look like a TV presenter's work, but I liked it.

In the ninth grade, the family breathed out calmly when for the OGE I chose not literature, but biology. Apparently, everyone thought that I wanted to become a doctor. In fact, it just seemed to me that it would be easier to pass biology.

Natural sciences were given so easily that the biology teacher even promised me admission to the medical institute. When I announced in the tenth grade that I still plan to be a journalist, she was very disappointed. The family also took the news with hostility: I had no relatives with a creative profession, and journalism was considered something frivolous.

The grandfather was most indignant. His main argument against it sounded like this: "There are only a few people like Malakhov, but what do you want to write articles for 10 thousand in the district high-circulation newspaper?"

My mother and aunt were on my side. They both unlearned economics at the insistence of their accountant grandmother and were unhappy that they did not realize their own dreams. As a result, I was allowed to make a choice myself, and I entered the journalism faculty of SUSU. I think an additional argument for my family in favor of journalism was the cost of education: in 2011 it was one of the most inexpensive faculties.

After graduation, I worked on the city cable TV for four years: I was a correspondent, a presenter, I was engaged in a website and social networks. I liked it, because every day there was something new and interesting. And, despite the workload, there was a lot of free time that I spent on freelancing. First I did advertising articles, then I got a job in the DTF editorial office and wrote long reads about cinema. And since last year I have been working in the commercial edition of Lifehacker at a distance.

4. Information technology instead of radio engineering

Alexey Ponomar Ulyanovsk

Since childhood, I loved computers and wanted to do something close to this area, so I planned to enter the Faculty of Information Systems and Technologies of UlSTU. There were no other options to get into IT in 1998.

There was a high competition at the faculty, and all my relatives persuaded me to apply to another place. Somewhere where I "definitely will go", because I "do not know myself what I need." At the family council, they decided to send me to the energy department, and I applied there. Then my parents changed their minds and forced me to re-apply for radio equipment. I listened to them and really did it easily: I scored enough points, and there was a big shortfall at the faculty that year.

On the very first day of my studies, I was invited to take an entrance test for a group with in-depth study of English, which then existed - attention - at the IT department. I easily dealt with it and ended up where I wanted from the very beginning.

The educational process in places did not meet my expectations at all. Something during my studies did not work out, but something I personally was not interested in. Very late I realized that I had missed my specialty: the faculty was IT, but the department was instrumental. She dealt with the problems of "hardware", and I was fond of software and was well versed in it.

But I have never regretted my choice. First of all, because in the end he made it himself.

I worked in my diploma specialty for about eight months. They promised a good salary only in three years, and I didn't want to wait that long. He got a job in the Ulyanovsk power sales company, where he worked as a programmer for six years. And then he left to do Lifehacker.

15 years after graduation, I spoke to applicants and freshmen and saw a familiar situation: they are still being pressured by teachers and parents.

The prospective student is often disoriented and does not understand that this is a choice that will determine his future. It is better to do it yourself, and the opinion of everyone else should be taken into account at best.

I love my university and faculty very much. Student years were difficult, but at the same time for me they became a time of growing up and becoming as a person.

5. Psychology instead of mechanical engineering

Elena Shadrina Yaroslavl

At school, I dreamed of becoming a microbiologist and singer. She was very fond of biology, physics and chemistry. Mom welcomed my passion for technical sciences. She worked as an engineer and wanted me to get a job in a field where she herself had connections. Mom managed to dissuade me from microbiology and convinced me that an engineer is an excellent profession.

I entered the mechanical engineering faculty of the Polytechnic University. At first I liked everything, because my studies were easy, I received a scholarship. In addition, there were many boys at the university, and I was always much more fun with them than with the girls.

But there were also difficulties. Some subjects were given with great difficulty. For example, one day, to complete my engineering drawing homework, I stayed awake until four in the morning. And after 2 hours I got up and went to the university. Due to strenuous studies for the second year, I lost 10 kilograms, my face was gray, and there were huge bruises under my eyes. I myself did not notice this.

I remember sitting with my mother in a cafe after the next test, and she said: "Lena, get out of there, it's impossible to look at you."

I realized that I was out of place, in my second year. Then psychology and pedagogy appeared in the curriculum. These subjects interested me much more than casting or cutting theory. I took the documents and submitted them to another university - for psychology.

She studied in absentia, at the same time worked as a music director in a kindergarten, and in her last years she got a job at a recruiting agency. I thought that after graduation I would develop systems for the psychological selection of personnel in large organizations. But then I realized that I wanted to do therapy.

As a child, I watched the film "The Color of the Night", apparently, then for the first time and thought about the work of a psychologist. I dreamed of my office, but did not know how to achieve the goal.

I started my journey in a new field with business trainings. It didn't work out right away, and out of confusion I went, oddly enough, to become an engineer. Until she worked in her specialty, she wrote a novel in the genre of science fiction, and then a sequel. At that time, I realized that I myself needed the support of fellow psychologists and personal therapy. I went through it and began to consult.

Now I am a member of the Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapists, doing private counseling. I love to study and continue to do so to this day, improving my qualifications in a new profession.

6. Web development instead of diplomacy

Anton Vorobyov Moscow

At school, I adored mathematics and computer science, so I dreamed of going into the IT sphere. Parents took this choice with hostility: they believed that I did not have enough knowledge and skills in this industry, which means that it makes no sense to spend money on such training.

I did not argue with them and applied to the Faculty of International Relations and Diplomacy. At that time these areas were a little interesting to me, and there was enough knowledge for admission. It was boring to study: the teachers did not expect anything from the students and did not even demand anything. And most of my classmates did not strive to study.

After receiving my diploma, I tried for a year and a half to find a job, but to no avail. I had to ask my parents for help. This is how I got a job in a representative office of one of the republics of the Russian Federation. But I did not like it there so much that I was glad to get a job as a manager in a restaurant.

When I got married, I realized that it couldn't go on like this. In the restaurant, I did not see any prospects for myself: it turned out to be not my sphere. In the spring, I decided to follow my dream and signed up for an online course in web programming.

So far, I am not working in a new specialty: there is still a year of study ahead. But now in the classroom I am doing what I have to do in my future work. I am interested in writing code and creating online stores. I am finally doing what I love and infinitely happy.