"Would you encourage your children to become a dentist?"
This is not an uncommon topic of conversation at the bar or at the conference. I've had it many times with different colleagues and i'm truly staggered by the amount of colleagues that tell me that they wouldn't encourage their children into the profession.
Look at the facts to start with -
An average salary of what... £60 - £70k a year.
The ability to be your own boss if you want.
Very flexible for maternity and paternity.
The opportunity to travel.
The opportunity to be a scientist at work.
The opportunity to research.
The opportunity to meet tons of new people.
The opportunity to shape your own future education in your subject.
The chance to work in the forces if you'd like.
The chance to work in hospital if you'd like.
The chance to be involved in education, teaching and training.
The chance to build a team.
The chance to work with your hands.
Tell me a job that's better than this? (and I don't mean one that's higher paid)
If you hate your job so much that you wouldn't want your children to work in it then why are you working in it? As I move towards 1000 blogs published and on from there, one of the subjects which will become more and more prevalent is the subject of hope; for me I think perhaps the most important emotion.
Life without hope is dire. In my darkest times it's hope that disappears. It's excitement for the future, it's excitement for what might become for my children.
If you're not invested in anything other than yourself and your own little bubble then it's hard to see hope; it's hard to see how you can contribute to a better place, to a better thing, to forward movement.
I don't think my children will become dentists (although i'm not sure) but I HOPE that I can instil in them a wonder and the ability to investigate an interest in the world around them. I hope I can encourage them to try different things to find the things that they love which inspire them and make them come alive.
For me it was dentistry (by pure chance) for them it might be something else. If they wanted to be a Doctor and they knew how hard that would be but the rewards that it could bring then I would love that. If they wanted to be artists I would love that too. I would love them to go into dentistry because we could share that and they could make a massive difference to a massive amount of people. If I didn't want them to come in then I would do something else. If I hated it that much I wouldn't be able to hope.
Blog Post Number: 996
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