I'm confused about my career path...help! :)

I changed my major 17 times until I finaly failed out of university and gave up on life…your career will come out when your ready for it…and it’s ready for you

I’m curious, why do you think what you are doing now won’t enable you to retire someday? If you really want to change your career, I think it’s best to think about what you would really enjoy doing. Would you want to do something else with animals or would you want to do something completely different? Think about what you enjoy doing and look at what career options are available in that field. Then look at what education is necessary for those careers and go from there.

I have a BS in Animal Science and Ag Ed. I had no trouble getting a 7th through 12th grade teaching certification in the sciences. You may have to spend one extra summer depending on your education so far.
You may love teaching and you can go to school yourself evenings or summers and take something exciting that suits your fancy.
Another option is research for an animal feed company like Purina. Another option is working for the Agricultural extension office… as an active agent you would meet many in the community and all kinds of options may come to you. The big thing is to take a leap of faith along a path you like and you will find or a career will find you. Activity and observation is the key.
I ended up teaching near an AirForce base and married an AF officer( I was making more than he was at the time) and we traveled because of the AF and the teaching was good for jobs. It got very exciting after that but that is another BOOK of stories :-)

You’re half way to becoming a Veterinarian if you like.

First of all – I’m only 13. I really don’t know anything about this.
But, in my opinion, you should do what you love. There’s this quote I’ve heard quite a few times that goes something like this – Find a job doing what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. I have no clue who said it.
What do you want to do? Do you really love this job with animals? If you do, then it wouldn’t matter so much that you won’t be able to retire as easily. You’ll be doing something you love and getting paid for it. Obviously somebody thinks you’re worth paying, and if you really show what you’re worth at this job, you’ll eventually get more money, and maybe you’ll even be able to retire someday.
Feel free to ignore me since I’m half your age.

@ChocolateReigns

Excellent insight for one so young. My compliments. : )

Doing what you love has its drawbacks. A friend of mine loved outdoor adventure, so he opened a camping supply store and hasn’t had time to go camping since. Just a caveat.

If you enjoy your job, then continue to do it. You might be able to find another place where you can do the same job at a higher pay, but it doesn’t mean that you will be happier. The people you work with can make a huge difference.

If money is the issue, take a good, close look at how you manage it. I’m surprised at how many of the friends my age earn a fair amount of money and still live paycheck by paycheck.

Consider some things.

-Is working with animals something you want for your career? Being a vet requires more than just loving animals – and it can easily cost in excess of 150K so you have to be comfortable with that (I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it just that you shouldn’t take a 4 yr. commitment lightly).

-does lab work interest you? Do you have any research experience?

-money does matter. It’s fine and all to say I’ll follow my passion no matter what, but you might want to retire at some point, you might want to be somewhat comfortable. Even people who love their jobs are often glad to retire. I’m familiar with vet tech salaries – I often hear them say they love their jobs but have worries like yours.

-Have you considered nursing? I think a vet tech who is also into people interactions could fit in quite nicely. You may want to explore healthcare jobs.

Do you enjoy teaching? @MaryW mentioned high school science, but there are other directions you can go – if you get a graduate degree or two, you could teach at a university. There may be a way to keep a more hands-on approach to education, if you enjoy working with animals.

I’m 25 and I’m going back to school for Pharm Tech. It’s good money. You could try something in the health field that doesn’t take a lot of time to get a certificate.

The perfect career would be one you don’t even want to retire from. However, if you are interested in how to make more money to put down toward your retirement, one way is to discuss your future with your employers. If they are interested in sending you to school in order to make you a more valuable employee, that would help you out as well.

I’m 26 and going back to school in 2 months. But thats because I learned more about the world after graduation and decided to do something else.

Sit back, close your eyes and think for an hour. Imagine your life in the future. What will make you smile…?

Or, get someone to put a gun to your head and force you to answer honestly. Then, make him threaten to kill you unless you are on your way to doing that. (Note: not a real idea, its a movie reference).

Think of something that you love to do so much, that you would almost feel weird about being paid to do it. That is the direction in which to move.

Have you considered environmental work? I am not particularly knowledgeable in this area, but I know it is an up and coming field.

Yes. Please watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
It will shed some light.

Good Luck!

Thank you for all of your advice. You have given me a lot to think over, and to consider. I do love my job, I just know that with my salary and my future wishes of a family, I would need a higher salary to give a family the kind of life my parents gave for me, something I was tremendously thankful for and appreciative of. I have actually thought of going into the health field more, with lab work and pharamacy work as the frontrunners. It encourages me that I have a lot of options :) Thank you again!

You never know…you may find someone you love madly that makes more than you.

I am very happy to know you now have a few more viewpoints to your situation, and also agree with @Pied_Pfeffer, not only in the stated sense, but more in the “you never know what could happen that is unexpected”, follow your heart, it will lead you to the perfect place for you

I am a speech language pathologist and I love it. You get to do great, amazing, fulfilling therapy with children or adults. You have to grad school in order to get certified and complete a internship for a year. If you want to help others and feel very fulfilled doing it, then you should look into speech language pathology.