I have been having a discussion with my gf about graduate school - simply because she's thinking of doing the same, in Law. We both agreed that the financial commitment is too much just because it doesn't necessarily convert itself to real disposable income later on. In my opinion, graduate school is a very personal commitment and decision to take.
Most parents are just more than satisfied to have attended a university Convocation for their child. Perhaps that's a parent's yardstick to say, hey, your financial commitments for the kid is officially over and so when the child says, I want to go to graduate school, it's a bummer.
Whatever the reason we provide for ourselves to justify throwing the money on graduate school, it must and should be something we have a passion for - putting aside the disposable income potential, because in an unstable world economy, having a job is already good enough.
I am in graduate school because it's what I have always yearned for - the quest for knowledge and the interest to understand and integrate my understanding of the human mind - it may never convert itself to my ever being in practice, but it's a personal satisfaction. I feel that until I have done that, I will never be able to satisfy my distaste for sitting with a case file for an hour, and trying to be empathic.
I have no interest in empathy, but an interest in solving the real problem - which usually is within reach - but in order to solve it, we need to study the connections - so that when we come up with a solution, it's permanent. This brings me to what my lecturer told us all in Year 1.
Psychology majors graduate with rose-tinted glasses, through which they see the world, and that is a problem in itself - the world is imperfect and so are people - and that we need to accept it.
That to me, is not a psychologist talking, but a counselor.
I find there to be no need to just accept the imperfections - but a need to find the cause.
for that reason, practice is not for me - when I embark on a journey to find a cause, it may take me a while and most do not have the patience, preferring an more instantaneous solution albeit temporary. Of course I am able to come up with a temporary solution, but I will also start digging for the root cause - with or without the client - if anything, to be a better psychologist.
So graduate school may be a waste of time and money for some - but for me, it's a necessity because at least at the end of the day, I will have the vehicle to find any root to any tree, provided the problem is interesting enough.
For me, it's not about adding another title to my name, it's about validation.
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