Up until this point in life I have always been really pretty confident in my abilities academically and career-wise. Now I'm realizing the realities of life. That you can be as well-respected and skilled in your field as you want, but timing, situations, and the context of one's life matters greatly. Now suddenly I feel like I'm questioning what I'm doing career-wise because the world of social services is so much like a leaf in the wind - unpredictable, never knowing where it will land and when. It makes me angry when I think about it because there is such need and the work done is HARD work. While I'm sure the corporate world works hard, there's no comparison to the intensity, emotional strength, physical strength, and just tenacity one needs to be a social worker - in child protection particularly. And yet I can walk away with a Master's degree in social work and make less than most undergrads make in their first corporate job. Makes me pretty sick. And I don't mean this to be a bashing-corporate world thing (although I will admit I don't mind doing it at times) but at the same time, it's this huge feeling of injustice and frustration. And it makes me think crazy things like I just wasted the last 6 years of my life when I should have just done nursing.

HA. 

OK well I have little desire to poke needles into veins, wipe up people's bodily fluids, etc. but there are parts of me that think it's a job well-glorified, well-paid, well-needed in terms of public support and thus funded, and yet it centers on people. But I really think it's just a whim, it's not reality, it's not even what I think I want...now medical school, maybe something crazy like that will happen :)