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How did you get started on your job journey?

8th grade, I’m looking to go into psychology.

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Michelle’s Answer

Hello, CVOH !

It is wonderful that you are exploring a variety of people's career journeys because it could very well be quite interesting as well as inspiring !
I would be happy to share my career starts while having one career, than transitioning into another career and than back to the first career. Life has some awesome cycles like that sometimes !

I knew that I wanted to go into Acting when I was 6 years old but sat on that notion until I was 18 and in college majoring in Theatre. When I was 13, I was fascinated with the human condition and human experience so I was also interested in a human services type of thing, too. I did mental health volunteer Peer Counseling (for kids my age) when I was 16 and absolutely loved working with clients.

Fast forward to college. That is when I realized, hey, I could go into acting and yes, it can be a reality, so I was a Theatre Major with a minor in Social Science. The Theatre program was very rigorous to say the least and I was balancing my on campus time with doing shows in the community to gain experience. So far, we have that I began by doing volunteer work, enrolling in college and getting experience in my field of study. As I did shows and professors got to know me at school, opportunities came. This is the part where networking and making contacts comes in. I made some of the most warm and memorable long lasting friends through this.

By being so active in theatre at school and in the community, I was exposed to the steps one can or should take to further their career after getting my Bachelors Degree. Most of my classmates were pondering between moving to New York City or Los Angeles. I chose Los Angeles because I realized that there would be more work opportunity for me there. I knew New York City like the back of my hand and it wasn't new to me, so I moved to Hollywood. A lifelong dream, actually. Things indeed did work out there, too. I started missing the state of my birth and moved back to New York, NYC to continue in the entertainment field. It was about two years later and I was applying to social service jobs and obtaining them, much to my surprise, as I had no experience and no related degree. My Bachelors was in Theatre with the social science minor which I guess made a difference.

Again, fast forward six years ago. I went back into the acting again. So the lesson here is that you never know what will happen. A college degree, making contacts, obtaining experience, doing well on interviews, taking chances for good things and having a great support system were very important factors in two satisfying careers for me.
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Jerome’s Answer

I knew I wanted to study psychology while in High School because a really amazing mentor volunteered her time to help improve my life. Between that and always being curious how the mind worked and why people did what they did, psychology felt like a great field to explore!

The great thing is that you can just do a minor in psychology if there are other things that interest you :)
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James Constantine’s Answer

Oh, it was as easy as falling into a hole or a pit. Not reading the signs. I had no idea that the youth was about to be fooled. I had stars in my eyes and wasn't familiar with that thing called reality. After receiving a 1969 Christmas present of a small single-lens telescope I decided that I wanted to be an astronomer and study the Stars. Well, life sure had different plans for me with the death of my uncle my father's brother at 38 years of age, in 1974 in senior high school and I underwent a bit of a radical change. I started to look at biochemistry because my uncle did that and he had just passed away from a massive coronary. Strangely weirdly enough Professor Colin Masters was my uncle's old boss and he turns up at my university 15 years later teaching biochemistry.

Then Dad died at 50. Then brother died at 54. So I Explored all avenues to solve the lemma, the problem. They had all died by the time I had learned how to deal with the Rot. Too bad. So I just kept helping People. What else could I do? Along by the wayside I had done the Words of Desiderata and stayed interested in my career, however humble. I had Mathematical acumen from my father so I pursued computing programming and taught myself the ropes. So now it has been 52 years since 1972 ten computer languages later I've learned how to program but also being a dietician for 35 years I can write nutrition software I know what the machine should be doing and I'll make it do that thank you. As for artificial intelligence replacing programmers like me I say well good luck to you you reckon you can do it I'm about to write a book on how to design nutritional software I'd like to see AI do that thank you
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Racheal’s Answer

Hello,
Thank you for your question. I knew I wanted to go into psychology when I was around the age 11. My sister had attempted suicide twice and was placed in an institution. For some odd reason I was the only one she wanted to talk to during her time in treatment. I was the only one she would call for at home and we have a huge family.
My second experience was of my own oerson journey of trauma, racism, discrimination, and SES issues that impact the African American community and knowing that change doesn't come from putting my head down, I don't back down from bullies.
I also had experience in community agencies and non profit that helped shaped by clinical experience and inspire me to consider the area of psychology and mental health overall as a child and adolescent case manager and disease intervention specialist.
Lastly, I know that from both experience , I value value, yet I was curious as to how people from the same family could have different experiences, view the world differently, have a different relationship within their family and microsystems, so I was interested in that area of expertise, so here I am, working in mental health.
Hope my background and journey has been helpful to your own curiosity.
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