Introduction
When I was in the seventh grade, I knew that I wanted to become a vet-
erinarian. Two semesters into college, my grade-point average made it
painfully clear that I would have to give up my dream of becoming a vet.
So I switched majors and switched majors again until I eventually ended
up with a master’s degree in speech pathology. To make a long story short,
I was unhappy with my career choice and spent the next several years
bumping along in a variety of different jobs. After years of soul-searching,
I decided to complete a master’s degree in counseling and eventually
landed my current job as director of career services at our local commu-
nity college. I remember making the very conscious choice, at 46 years
old, to pursue what I knew best—career counseling. My husband tells
people that I became a career counselor because I changed my major so
many times.
Everyone has stories like mine—of going to college for one thing and
ending up being something else. Very few people in this world wake up
one morning with the idea to become a surgeon and actually end up being
a surgeon until they retire. Recent economic events have made staying in
one job or career throughout one’s life almost impossible because of tech-
nology changes, layoffs, and other unforeseen factors in one’s life.
There are even some examples of famous people who changed their
careers and, I might add, ended up having very successful lives:
Andrea Bocelli was a lawyer. After graduating with a law degree from the Uni-
versity of Pisa, Andrea Bocelli worked as a defense attorney until the age of
34, when he left his job to sing full time.1
Joy Behar was a high school English teacher. The host of The View and The Joy
Behar Show wasn’t always the comedian we all love. In fact, Behar was a high
school English teacher until the age of 40.2
