Consider whether going back to school for a master's degree is the right decision for you.
Explore other options such as finding a job in a different field or taking part-time classes to confirm your interest in the new field.
Arm yourself with as many options as possible before making a decision.
意味を教えてください
Dear Prudence,
I am a lawyer and have a unicorn of a legal job—Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, with a good salary and full benefits. I started out at a big corporate firm where I was overworked and miserable, and thought this opportunity would be the key to happiness. Three years later, I’ve realized the law (primarily the constant conflict and lack of creativity) just isn’t for me. I am considering going back to school for a master’s related to my undergraduate degree, a field in which I think I would be happy and excel.
My hesitations are twofold: First, I’ve already spent seven years in school and amassed massive student loans which I will be repaying until I’m almost 40 (obviously much longer if I go back to school). I’ve already made the wrong major/career choice once, and I’m genuinely worried I’m just thinking about going back to school because that’s where people go when they don’t know what else to do. Second, I’m in my early 30s and planning on having kids in the next few years, right when I would be finishing my program, presumably unemployed and without any kind of maternity leave benefits. I am sometimes tempted to stick it out in this job in order to ensure my kids will not have to struggle the way I am now.
—Job Moans and Student Loans
I think you should follow your dreams very cautiously. I just can’t imagine that adding to your already-massive pile of student debt would in any way improve your future. You don’t say that you loathe your job, merely that the law isn’t what you want to do with the rest of your life, and I think if you find your current position at all bearable, it’s not worth going back to school full-time right now, especially if you plan on having children the moment you go onto the job market.
You have more options, by the way, than just a) sticking it out as an unhappy lawyer indefinitely and b) chucking it all to rack up a few more tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of debt. Consider looking for a job in a different field that can make use of your law degree (it’s not a stretch to say every kind of business needs a lawyer). If you’re set on leaving law completely, go to class part-time in order to confirm that you actually like the field you’re planning on going back to school for. Schedule an appointment with a career counselor to see if they can offer specific suggestions on how to redirect your career path. I can understand why it’s be tempting to abandon it all for the (comparative) freedom of graduate school, but there’s nothing particularly freeing about debt. Arm yourself with as many options as possible before making your next move.
a unicorn of a legal jobとnothing freeingの意味を教えてください。よろしくお願いします
"a unicorn of a legal job" 「法律家として理想の仕事」だと思います。
unicorn とはユニコーン(一角獣)のことで、実在しない空想の動物です。つまり「現実にはあり得ないような理想的なもの」の比喩的表現として unicorn を用いているのだと思います。
[ご参考] https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unicorn 3.a.
= "Something that is greatly desired but difficult or impossible to find."
I am a lawyer and have a unicorn of a legal job—Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, with a good salary and full benefits. I started out at a big corporate firm where I was overworked and miserable, and thought this opportunity would be the key to happiness. Three years later, I’ve realized the law (primarily the constant conflict and lack of creativity) just isn’t for me.
私は弁護士で、法律家としては理想的な仕事に就いています - 月~金、9時~5時で、報酬は良く、各種手当も充実しています。私は最初、大企業に就職したのですが、過労で悲惨な思いをしました。そして、この機会こそが幸福の扉を開ける鍵だと思ったのです。3年が経過した今、私は弁護士業(主に、終わりのない紛争と、創造性の欠如)に合っていないことに気づきました。
"nothing freeing" 「何ら解放の道につながらない」ではないでしょうか。
I can understand why it’s be tempting to abandon it all for the (comparative) freedom of graduate school, but there’s nothing particularly freeing about debt.
大学院で(比較的な)自由を謳歌するために、全てを放棄したいという気持ちは理解できるものの、だからといってそれは借金から逃れることには一切つながりません。
お礼
ご回答ありがとうございます