She's smart, so she's going to be a doctor 👩🏽‍⚕️

She’s smart, so she’s going to be a doctor.

That’s what I heard somebody say about their family member back in Ireland the other day.

I asked him “but does she want to be a doctor?” to which I was told that her whole family are doctors and so it’s a natural step.

I objected that just because somebody is smart, doesn’t mean they automatically should study medicine. What if they are smart but want to live a life of freedom and not diagnosing illnesses?!

It made me think about the culture in Ireland (and possibly other countries) around work and careers.

I wanted to be a DJ when I was a kid.

But my dad told me I was ‘too smart’ for that. I think I wanted to be an air hostess for a bit but then I couldn’t cross the Atlantic without getting sick so that got knocked on the head too.

I never really knew what I wanted to do to be honest.

I did well in school and was always good at maths and science.

I then had a goal of working and living in the IFSC so I started looking towards finance degrees in university. 

(I didn’t even know Bali existed, never mind followed anybody living a life like this).

I actually picked out a course called Quantitative Finance in DCU that seemed quite interesting. But the points were higher for Financial and Actuarial Mathematics, so it would be 'silly' to put it second on my CAO application and QF first.

(For those not in Ireland, you earn points from your leaving certificate and you use those points to apply for a course. It’s not actually an indication of how difficult it is, but more an indication of demand. Medicine would be top points because it seems like we have a lot of people in Ireland that want to be doctors)

And sure - an Actuary was a ‘profession’, like an accountant, or a solicitor and a doctor. Instant societal respect. 

I won’t bore you with my life story, but I didn't end up qualifying as an Actuary.

However, I am living a very happy and successful life - in my opinion.

It’s why I share so much of my life online.

It wasn’t easy stepping off the career ladder and starting again at 25.

It wasn’t easy going against societal norms.

But if I can just show that you can have a very happy life with no profession - it might just open some young girls eyes to more possibilities.

Of course, if she wants to be an actuary, or a doctor - then even better - the world needs them!

I just don’t want people following a career path or profession because they feel like they should, or because they think that will seem successful to others.

And let’s not forget that in this day and age, you can monetise the internet without any degree and live the life of your dreams.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhan “DJ Shivers B.Sc” O’Hagan