going to grad school--help me choose wisely!

[La Sombra]

After fourteen years and a couple false starts, I will be finishing, at last, my BA in one year!!! Yay!

I worked hard and was accepted at a tier one state university on a full scholarship and will graduate with a dual degree in Spanish and Chinese. My original plan was to go on to do a masters in education and go into teaching, (as a foreign language teacher, not as an ESL teacher, btw). But last year I began thinking of doing a masters degree in public policy. Then I started thinking about teaching again.

I am terrified of choosing something that is going to lead to a career that I'm not going to enjoy.

I am also especially terrified of choosing an educational path that is not going to lead to a lucrative career after all the time and money I will have invested (assuming that I actually have to pay for grad school).

Here are the things I think about:

* I like the idea of teaching because I'd get summers off to be with my babies. My partner is a professor also so it would be nice for us as a family. I also think that I would enjoy teaching, although it's not a huge passion for me.

BUT

* I have been told that the teaching market is SUPER bleak right now and I know lots and lots of high school teachers that have been laid-off or unable to find a job. I also know that the Chinese government has a huge initiative to send Chinese teachers to the US and pay them to teach--so why would any school hire me to teach Chinese when they could hire a native speaker for basically nothing? (Admittedly I don't know what the market is like for Spanish teachers, though--someone recently told me not so good but I don't know much).

AND:

* I like the idea of teaching but the idea of *studying* teaching doesn't interest me at all. Whereas the idea of studying public policy really really excites me. I am interested in so many aspects of public policy and can really see myself thriving in that kind of academic setting.

BUT:

* Someone recently advised me not just to look at what my *interests* are but how I would want my day to look. And the truth is that with public policy, well, I know what interests me but I have no idea what sort of job it might lead to and I *don't* want a boring office job even if it's working for a company or a non-profit or the government or something doing really important work. I want to speak other languages, meet new people and have new challenges. And I don't know for sure that I will get that with public policy.

* I also don't know if public policy is a lucrative thing to go into right now. This feels like such a scary time, where the floor is shifting underneath us and I have no idea what the jobs of the future are. On the one hand I don't want to base this decision totally on money yet on the other I feel like it would be foolish not to think about my future prospects before jumping into some lengthy and possibly expensive grad program...

Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice? TIA!!!

[sparklett]

I don't have much advice for you, except that I was recently employed in environmental policy and found it to be fun and challenging with decent pay (starting out I made 48k a year and it went up from there). Policy-making of any kind is just absolutely NEAT to be a part of, from holding grassroots meetings to writing policy statements and researching new laws, to swaying opinion in DC.

If you want to work in this area, you'll need to find a program or campaign that is working in a sector that would need your services. For example, if you're working on public policy as it relates to health care for immigrants, then you'll definitely find use for your language skills.

Good luck on your decision!

[Carita]

ITA - try to get some on the job experience in policy to see what yo uthink... even if you have to volunteer for it. a state or gov job wth policy often has a lot of vacation time, like 3 weeks, and as a teacher, even thought it seems like you would get 2 months off, you have many inservice days and work to take home, plus i agree with the idea that the market is bleaker for teachers.

[*MamaJen*]

After seven years of journalism, I'm jumping ship to get a policy masters. I'm really excited about it, though a few weeks ago I did have this moment of abject panic thinking that it was a horribly idea and really I should be a park ranger. But seriously, I've known for a while that my heart is in policy, and I've had plenty of exposure to it through journalism.
I know what you mean, though, about not quite knowing where you'll end up with a policy degree. I still don't quite know. It's not like getting a masters in engineering, where you wind up being... an engineer. Policy is a lot more open ended.
Do you have to get your masters degree before you can start teaching? If not, it might be interesting to teach for a year, see how you like it, and then go from there.

[La Sombra]

Thank you ladies so much! No, I don't have a teaching degree or certificate. It would take me about two more years to get a certificate OR two years to do a Masters with a certification, so that's a bit of a no-brainer if I go that route.

So true that policy is open-ended but I suppose in a way that could be a good thing about it. If I land a boring desk job, I have the opportunity, still (theoretically at least) to change direction and do something else.

My interests, FWIW, policy-wise include:

*immigration policy (an obvious way, too, to use my language skills--at least Spanish, not so much the Chinese)
*food policy
*welfare

[aikigypsy]

You might also want to try out teaching before you commit to a degree program, either by teaching EFL in China for the summer (if your family can afford to make the trip together, once you're there it shouldn't be too expensive, and you'll probably get a free or subsidised apartment), or through a local language school. That would give you a better idea of whether you actually like teaching or whether it's just the idea of teaching that you like.

[La Sombra]

Originally Posted by aikigypsy

You might also want to try out teaching before you commit to a degree program, either by teaching EFL in China for the summer (if your family can afford to make the trip together, once you're there it shouldn't be too expensive, and you'll probably get a free or subsidised apartment), or through a local language school. That would give you a better idea of whether you actually like teaching or whether it's just the idea of teaching that you like.

Ah--I should have mentioned that, actually: I lived in Taiwan for 2 1/2 years teaching English so that is certainly something that has given me the sense that teaching is something that I could enjoy if not exactly be super passionate about! Also, we are a blended family--DP is a professor of Spanish literature/cinema and I have an ex to consider so unfortunately (and I do mean unfortunately, because I LOVE to travel and have new adventures!) moving to China (or anywhere else for that matter) for just a year seems pretty out of the question.