Who has a career announcement ...

I interrupt your regularly scheduled "Fitness Friday" post for an announcement (and as you can see from the title... it is a career announcement... I am not pregnant...).

I have officially signed up for my first class and made a plan to start working towards getting a Masters in Dietetics and one day pretty far down the road ... becoming a Registered Dietitian!

Writing this post and actually pressing publish is terrifying because it holds me accountable and means I am really embarking on this ridiculously long and stretched out journey - but it is also exciting! It is exciting because through ALL of the prerequisite classes, the future course work, and the future internship ... I can see a career that I am passionate about and can be adjustable for all the phases of my future life!

I do feel lucky to have gotten my current job, but it is not my future career ... So with the encouragement of B and others - and after extensive research, here is the current, flexible plan...

First - I have to take a TON of prerequisite classes ... like I basically need to go back and get another bachelor's degree because I took NO science and math in College. I went to a small liberal arts school and as a political science major, I only had to take one science class ... and I took Moons and Planets? Good choice Julie - that one really helped my career path?!?!
Therefore, I am going to use the next 4 years in Ann Arbor to slowly take prereq classes at the local community college and at Eastern University. I am currently planning on just taking one class a semester because I want need to keep my full time job as long as I can. I am starting off with Human Anatomy! I have a bunch of chemistry to take, more biology, stats, and some nutrition classes ... basically the next 4 years will be a juggling act - but I will leave Ann Arbor ready to apply to a Masters programs for Dietetics. (Applying for a second bachelors is an option too - but I heard that in 10 years they are going to require a Masters for RDs anyways, so I might as well make myself as competitive as possible in the job market - and it is only an additional semester). 

The next step after prereqs is a bit fuzzy because B's future path after residency is a bit unknown. We will probably move somewhere new (and exotic?) for 1 year for him to pursue a fellowship ... so that one year will not be enough time to tackle my Masters ... so I will probably just use that year to get everything in order and finalize a future plan.

Hopefully once B gets his FIRST real life doctor job (after the fellowship), I can start tackling my 2 year Masters in that location (yes ... I know that is basically 6 years away ... but I do love marathons right? so it is a marathon and about the journey). I am planning on either looking at local Universities in the area (if there are any options) OR Eastern University (here in Ann Arbor) actually offers an online coordinated Masters in Dietetics - I would just need to secure my internship locations myself. After the Masters - I would take my Registered Dietician Exam ... fingers crossed I will pass and be an RD.

Easy as Pie right? (Making a homemade pie and crust is actually hard ... so I guess it makes sense!)

I am excited to document parts of this long journey on the blog. There is actually a great RD blogging community that has been a great resource as I contemplated this decision and hopefully I can be a part of in the future!

Just by reading this - you are supporting my journey - so thank you!!

  Do you have big plans for your career or big announcements?