fairly harmless careers?

Hello folks
Long time reader, almost first-time poster (I think the first time was when I posted about a "UFO" I saw in grade 10!). Anyway, I'm in grade 12 now and ever since I deviated from mainstream thinking (or the dumbmasses, as my friend Joni calls it) I've been trying to find a career that's relatively harmless, if you know what I mean. We're all a bunch of "pyscho conspiracy theorists", right? I don't think I need to elaborate.

I originally wanted to be a nurse but I don't have much faith in Western medicine anymore and couldn't knowingly poison people like that.(Can anyone please tell me there's a loop hole and I can still be a nurse?:lol I've considered naturopathic medicine, but I don't know if I could spend my life trying to prove the validity of it to close-minded people. I'd love it if I could find something that actually helped people, but with the world the way it is now, I'd be pleased if I just managed to find a career that didn't do any harm to anyone. I figured ATS was the perfect place to ask this question! I'm open to all suggestions (within reason--I don't want to be a cake decorator or grocery bagger or anything, no offence intended!). I've worked hard, and I have the grades to pursue almost anything. I'd rather not kick it and "find out what interests" me in the first couple of years of school, cuz y'know. It ain't cheap. If it helps, I know I like biology and science in general as well as pyschology (I won't ever spell it right, though!). Hopefully you guys can throw some suggestions out there and finally rest my mind.

reply to post by smadgirl


Are you interested in animals? I don't know how much Veterinarians make, but it's helping animals instead of humans. I guess if you help out someone's pet then you've helped out a human.

Suggest search and make a list of careers in the science/biology field.

Then phone or visit and interview someone (or two) in each field.

Vet sounds good, but I've heard some people say it's a tough career choice.

Dental Assistant isn't bad, but again, you're giving pain to people.

Laboratory Research Assistantships can be good, but you work under a grant so employment can be intermittant. In the medical field, it's becoming almost impossibly draining as they try to do more and more, with less and less people. (techs are actually leaving the field!).

Nurses who work in Dr's offices have it pretty good. They have a strong union and if you're smart and can get to being a Nursing Instructor it's very nice and not that stressful. You have great mobility, too, and can get a job anywhere.

Check with your guidance counselor (if he/she is good/competent).

If your finances are good you can become a 'professional student'. Go for a degree and then an graduate degree and then an MBA (Master of Business Admin).

Some like the pharmacy field, or cosmetics field entering as science staff and maybe moving up to sales, which is not bad if you like travel.

Good luck!

I would say becoming a nurse is a noble profession, but you have nixed that one.

The sausage industry is not very proud of the slaughterhouse floor. It knows that people outside the industry that do not understand the industry would be disgusted or morally outraged if they saw what exactly happens on the slaughterhouse floor and what exactly goes into sausages.

Unfortunately, every business you can go into has a slaughterhouse floor. In some businesses, the slaughterhouse floor is more readily visible. For example, we all are aware that lawyers often bend the truth or lie to advance their clients interest, and often file frivolous lawsuits. We may not be aware that professions that we largely regard as noble like medicine, teaching, and religion have a slaughterhouse floor, too.

Part of growing up and maturing as a moral human being is learning to deal with the slaughterhouse floor. As unpleasant as it may sound, you cannot reasonably avoid the slaughterhouse floor, nor should you.

If you are good at the Sciences and Math, then maybe you
would like to be an Astronomer. It is a harmless activity I would
assume. I have wished in my mind a number of times during my
life, that I had at least tried to be an Astronomer, instead of
going after other less fruitful ventures on occasion.

ZOOMER

You sound like a healer to me. But I agree that nursing can be an exercise in frustration, especially if you have ideas of your own on how to approach healing that differs with the mainstream. I would suggest that you concentrate on your core courses early in your educational career, then decide. You have some time yet, who knows what you might discover in the years to come?

Any career can be a harmful career. it what you do in it that makes it harmful. There are good lawyers and bad lawyers, goood doctors, senators ect, It's just much more fun to hear about the bad ones.
Take a job you like and do good at it. Otherwise, you're causing harm anyway.

What's wrong with being a nurse? It's all about intention.

Cult leader always looks good on a resume. It shows you have leadership skills and a winning sales attitude. Plus you get to wear nifty robes and hang out preaching whatever diatribe you want and everyone will like you for it.

Or I suppose you could become a holistic healer. yea not too fun.

I guess you could become an attorney and fight for the little guy and make buku bucks doing it. Till of course your little practice gets to large and you become one of the corporate evils your trying to defeat.

You could be a judge that would work. you could be the one judge that is completely impartial and just in their decisions.

[edit on 5/9/2008 by whatukno]

Wow, thanks for the speedy responses everyone!

Nursing is nixed because it uses conventional medicine. Regardless of my intent, I would still be using these drugs and harmful chemicals that are doing more harm than good. If there is a way around that though, I'd be very pleased.

Up until recently, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Apparently it's even harder to get into than human medical school. I'm smart, but not that smart! (also read as: I'm a tad lazy). I decided I'd rather help people. I love my pets and would go to great lengths for them, but human lives are generally more valuable than a pet's.

hotpinkurinalmint, that's pretty much what I figured, with the slaughterhouse floors and all. And you're absolutely right; every profession has it's dark side. I'm just looking for the least darkest!

Astronomy kind of scares me. The big, vast blackness of the universe I mean. I can't really look at pictures of planets and stars, stuff like that. And I'm really, really bad at physics.

Thank you to each and every one of you that replied. Your responses have helped more than you might realize.
(^that's not a conclusion to the thread, by the way...keep the suggestions comin', folks!)

If you have you're heart in the right place and have the ability to employ yourself and make a living at it, you could be a computer programmer or an inventor.

Both of those careers could be helpful to people if the person responsible for their work had complete control over it and doesn't sell it to the highest bidder, who usually just wants to make a profit by destroying the original work and crippling it.