Does passion outweigh income?

There is a loaded question. You will always need a roof over your head, food to eat, etc. So, you need an income. If the profession you choose happens to be your passion, all the better. If not, you are going to need that income to take care of yourself/family and to pay for you to follow your passion.

When I was your age, I was set on being a History Major. My entire childhood was spent reading as much as I could about History and I just knew that History was what I wanted to study in college. My practical father asked me what I would do when I graduated with my History Major. I remember first thinking that I had absolutely no clue and then thinking that my father was a soul-less dream-crusher. Looking back, I'm so glad he asked me that. I did my research and realized that while a History Major sounded amazing, being a History Major in the real world did not. I was entering college right after the housing bubble burst and the economy was tumbling. I know that I still could have gotten a history degree, but I also knew that I wasn't uber passionate about having a job in History and didn't have the drive necessary.

I knew I still loved History though and decided to get a major in Accounting and a minor in essentially military history. College was awesome, I got to go to my Managerial Accounting class, walk across campus to my World War II in Europe class, and then walk back across campus to my Introduction to Audit class. I am now doing Consulting for an Accounting firm and love what I do. Having my military history minor on my resume is often a conversation starter. Plenty of people still go to school for their passion and work hard enough to succeed, I took a slightly more conservative approach that worked out wonderfully for me. I do have the means to follow my passions and take trips around the world to different historical sites. It all comes down to do you want to work hard to play hard or play hard and work hard.

This is really going to depend on your situation and what it is you're passionate about. There are some careers that are really in demand right now, and likely will be for the foreseeable future, such as healthcare or technology. Some fields are more difficult to get into. Some careers don't require more than a Certification or an Associates for you to begin your journey, and others really require something closer to a PhD before you can really do much of anything with it.

I personally have always had a passion for medicine. I've been certified as a Nursing Assistant, I have an Associates of Applied Science in Surgical Technology, I have done Home Healthcare, and I have started schooling for Nursing. In terms of providing a basic, decent standard of living (based on where I live), CNA and Home healthcare would be difficult. Surgical Tech and Nursing certainly would. No one in healthcare gets paid what they're actually worth, so it's not something I would suggest someone go into if they're looking to be satisfied with their 'amount paid versus amount worked' compensation. Other career fields might be more equal in that regard.

My suggestion if you do want to follow your passion and are concerned about the income and the cost of doing so:

1) Research. Make sure that whatever it is you want to do, can be accomplished with the schooling you're going to be taking. Use websites like Indeed.com and LinkedIn to do job searches and see what kind of opportunities are available for that job, and whether or not there are any ENTRY LEVEL positions available. Places like glassdoor.com will let you research average salary in different areas and give you an idea of what you could expect to make once you graduate.

2) There's nothing wrong with community colleges. If you can find one that offers a Certificate or Associates for what you want, it will be infinitely cheaper than a 4-year University. Some Community Colleges are even able to offer Bachelors Degree for some programs. Also, if you're a resident of the county in which you're going to school, community colleges are even less expensive, which drastically cuts down on the amount of Financial Aid you might need.

3) Whatever college or tech school you want to go to, speak with their counselors. They have a wealth of information available to help people be able to afford schooling. Grants, Scholarships, and Work-to-Learn programs are just a few things that might be offered that would let you offset the cost. All of this is going to make a big difference once you graduate and the reality of passion vs income is right there in front of you.

Hi Renee,

You can do a combination of the two - That's what I did. Languages and linguistics are my passion, but I currently work in the technology industry. I got a free education in information technology because I spoke multiple languages and my language skills have helped me accelerate through the ranks at the companies that I've worked at.

The key to this is finding your passion and pairing it with something that is undeniably useful post-graduation. Double majoring is the key to this. For example, if your passion is art, see how it can fit into a STEM-related field such as technology or business and then plan your majors from there.

Don't go for something just because of the money. You will hate your life. Instead, get creative: Figure out how to combine your passion with something that will almost guarantee that you'll make decent pay out of college.

Kind regards,

Nicole