Pamela Taylor

Did anyone ever oppose your career plans when you were young or push you in a direction you did not want to go?

Yes, my mother always wanted me to be a nurse. I cannot stand to work with bodily fluids and wanted to be a teacher. I waited until after I married to go to college because she would not let me go to college for what I wanted. It was hard as I had two young children, but I got my bachelors in three and a half years by going in the summer and taking more than most. My husband worked extra hours and I worked on campus. I never took out any loans. I did it. You can too.

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

As a child I lived next door to two of my cousins. One, Rick, had special needs. I would read to him and pretend to be his teacher. He was in many ways my first student. Just like many kids play house, we played school. I knew at a young age I wanted to teach. Fighting my mother to be able to study to do so was another thing.

What is the one piece of career advice you wish someone gave you when you were younger?

There are a ton of jobs out there that you may have never even heard of. Explore your options. Educate yourself. For me I wanted to work with children and teach them. Teacher is of course the most obvious choice. BUT, there are others as well. I wish I had looked into being a play therapist, a child psychologist, a speech pathologist, etc. Don't settle on the obvious. You will be working for many years.