Kymia Hatcher

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

Growing up, I lived in a dysfunctional family and developed various habits of defense to protect myself from stress and anguish. I knew early on that I wanted to connect with and help those who experienced some of the same pain that I had, but I did not know what it was that I wanted to do. In grade school, I wanted to be an English teacher but by high school, my career goals ranged from journalism, meteorology and marine biology. It wasn't until my first semester at a community college where I found myself in the middle of a break-up with my first love and eye-opening legal issues. I decided to enroll into a Self-Help psychology class to bring myself out of the dark place I felt that I was in. Throughout that class, I practiced what we learned daily until I felt my hopelessness begin to ease. It was then that I knew that I wanted to study Psychology, but I still didn't know what I wanted to do with it. In fact, I dropped some of my classes at the time when I decided (thinking I didn't need them), which lowered my GPA and worried me in regard to applying to university. Eventually, I moved to a small town in Illinois to attend a private university and received my Bachelor's degree in Psychology in May 2018. This was 10 years after I graduated from high school! The road was tough. At times, I seriously wanted to give up. Many times, I had forgotten why I even started in the first place. I thought I may have made a mistake... didn't think I was on the right path. But each year, life unfolded and as I sought out for more of life's answers, opportunities presented themselves. Because of my own childhood and through personal research, in 2019, I decided to pursue a master's degree and career in School Counseling. This was not my first choice, and at the moment, while I know that I will begin this program, I do not know what the future holds. I trust that my path urges me to help those who may also be feeling how I've felt or experiencing what I've experienced in the past. Life does not often draw out exactly as we've planned. In sharing our experiences, we can unpack our concerns, worries, disappointments and even successes so that, together, we can achieve the goals we aspire to accomplish.

What is the most useful piece of career advice you got as a student, and who gave it to you?

Early on, the general consensus of adults in my time was: when you turn 18, move out and get whatever job you can get your hands on. For me and my household, I was encouraged to get my permit at 15 1/2 and work as soon as possible. While these are all great and serve their own purpose, this advise did not prompt me or encourage me to pick a career that meant something for me. My first job, I was paid under the table at a hot sandwich fast food restaurant called Quiznos. ((This was my first lesson in taxes! Make sure you set money aside if you are paid with cash or personal checks!)) Soon thereafter, since I did not handle my taxes well back then, I started a new job by 17 years old at Rite Aid. I knew this was not a job I wanted forever. Some advice my godmother gave me in middle school began to arise. She always told me, "When you decide to go to college, go to school for something you want or like to do. Being a doctor is cool and all for the money and income, but if you spend 8 years in school and accumulate that debt, while you might be getting paid good money, what is a life career if you don't even like what it is that you do all day?" This resonated with me: "Go to school for something that interests you as a career. The money will come." Trust the process! My personal career choice isn't the best paying job, nor is it at the lowest end of the spectrum. However, because of my passion and interests in helping others, this career path gives me a satisfaction that money can't buy. There is a need for ANYthing that you choose to do, no matter how many people are in your chosen field. Go after what it is you want to do in life, and everything that you need will be made available to you along the way.